


Cornelia's Curious Adventure

by The_Whistler



Series: Kazooland [1]
Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Gen, Lost Love, Love Triangles, One-Sided Attraction, Robotics, Science, Unrequited Love, dragon - Freeform, kazoolander, snornia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-07 02:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 102,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Whistler/pseuds/The_Whistler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 1913, Prof. Cornelia Spot, Cavalcadium member and scientist, came to Walter Manor to study with Colonel Walter, in hopes that he could help her find her way home... to Kazooland. Trouble is, no one really believes in it, and she isn't willing to take the risk of showing them proof that she is not quite human... </p>
<p>They make good progress on the science, but she unfortunately is affected by the Walter Robots in a way that is most unscientific.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Walter Manor

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, there's that little note of ~~big gobs of~~ romance in here... I love the stuff, but I like to make it interesting. Unfortunately for Cornelia... Yes, I have four robots listed as having pairings. Nothing actually happens... Let's just say it's complicated but not kinky. I'm pretty sure I can make it work. If not, enjoy the crash.
> 
> I may change the title later; I couldn't think of anything and I thought this sounded like the title of a silent movie short.
> 
> This is still running in the timeline in which Rabbit, at least up to a point, is a male presenting automaton. I think it works better in the earlier years for Rabbit to be a male. I'll probably refer at some point to a female Rabbit in the future, after his/her having been reprogrammed and renovated for that purpose (I sorta thought they were gonna do it that way, kinda bummed at the attempt to make it retroactive, but hey, I just call "alternate dimension" and carry on). Nothing's a stretch in science fiction...
> 
> And I know I'm not the only only who found the male Rabbit design to be a striking figure. I respect Bunny's right to change the character, and understand the reasons, but for those of us who cherish this beautifully crafted character, it's been a wrench. I say we keep him in the fanon somewhere, if only in another dimension. Most of us (as I write this) fell in love with this band with the old, quirky, malfunctioning Rabbit with the New Jersey twang to his voice... and it's possible to accept change even as you cherish the past.

Professor Cornelia Spot arrived at Walter Manor exactly on time. She prided herself on punctuality.

And seeing as how it was just her, there really was no excuse to be late. She didn’t expect the Walter household to run at the same efficient level as that to which she was accustomed. Not only was Walter himself known for being chronically late, but his children and automatons no doubt aggravated the problem. They were known throughout the local scientific community to be an unruly bunch, more like six youths than two youths and four robots.

But Professor Spot had not arrived to play nanny. She had come to work.

She was rather excited to do so, in fact. Walter, though unstable in many ways, had a brilliant, inventive intellect. What was more, he was one of the few members of the Cavalcadium who had, in her 30 year sojourn among them, put any stock in the idea of Kazooland. It was very important to her that she work with someone who believed… seeing as how she was trying to get back.

It had taken her nearly 100 years to find the passage that would bring her to Earth, a span of time spent, much as her time here had been, trying to persuade others that the place she sought existed. In the end, she had found the way alone and traveled alone. No doubt her family wondered where she had gone. Whether they missed her, however… well, the feeling was mutual.

She looked up at the structure approvingly as the taxi man unloaded her things. She tipped him generously… she had found that Earth money had its uses, but she had no love of it as men had… and looked up to see Colonel Walter striding toward her.

“Professor! Punctual as ever. Oh, your things. I’ll call the boys out to help…”

“I’m sure we can cope. I’m stronger than I look,” she said precisely, picking up the largest case with ease.

Walter looked at her with wide eyes. The pile of cases was formidable. “Very well,” he said graciously. “If you’re able to lift that one, I believe I can get the others…”

He lifted a medium-sized satchel with a grunt. “This must have all the heavy things, then…” he groaned with a rather strained smile as he added another case and began to stagger toward the house. “I’ll be right back.”

She sighed, gathered the rest of the luggage, and strolled after.

“Two, come help!” called The Colonel as he entered the Manor ahead of her. “Three? Boys?”

There was no response. Professor Spot set her cases down gently as he eased his to the floor with trembling arms.

“Spine?” he called rather weakly.

This time there was a thump of footsteps. “Yes, sir?” asked a tall silver automaton, peering around the stair landing. She looked on with wide eyes. He was dressed in a men’s shirt, tie, and trousers. “Oh!”

“Thank goodness,” sighed Walter. “Spine, if you would be so kind…”

The robot looked around hastily, then hurried, heavily but not clumsily, down the stairs toward them and gathered the cases. Professor Spot looked up at him in wonder. She had always been petite, even before she had come here, and felt truly dwarfed by this giant.

“Thank you, Spine. Put them into the first guest bedroom, please. It’s been prepared.”

“Yes, sir,” The Spine said respectfully, nodding to the Professor before hurrying up the stairs.

“He’s a marvel, Colonel,” she commented in awe. “Practically human.”

“Therein lays his one real weakness,” said Walter sadly. “He doesn’t speak of it, but he wants nothing more than to be just that.”

“He wants to be human?” That explained the smart gentleman’s attire. “What a pity, when he is so much more!”

“Well, I agree. I love my sons just as they are.”

She gaped slightly. He smiled at her expression. “Ah…  there’s the look. I always get that look when I refer to them as sons.”

“You can hardly blame me, Colonel,” she said, coloring slightly.

“Ordinarily. But as you are staying in Walter Manor, if you find their status as family members too much to tolerate…”

“Not at all,” she said hastily. “They are your creations, sir. If you wish to treat them like children, it is wholly your prerogative.”

“I… uh… Thank you? Well, you must be tired. When The Spine returns, I can ask him to guide you to your room.”

“Not to worry.” She was eager to present her data and hear his view. “I’ve been sitting all the way from Los Angeles.”

“Oh…” he said, rubbing his neck restlessly. “Well, I’m not quite ready to begin work, I’m afraid. I really had counted upon your needing the morning to settle in.”

“When will you be ready?” she asked, her voice pleasant to mask her growing frustration.

“Oh, mid-afternoon, I think. Um… Two o’clock,” he added uneasily.

“Very well,” she said with a sigh. “Where can I work until then?”

“The library has a desk, as does your room…”

“The library… Do you know, I have a passion for books? If I could pass the time in your library, it would be edifying.”

“Well, prepared to be edified, then,” he responded charmingly, extending his elbow. She placed one tiny hand reluctantly in the crook of his arm and suffered herself to be led to the library.

Once there, the Colonel took his leave and she turned eagerly to the rows of shelves. The Walter family had been scientists for generations. What wonders must be kept here!

She was just reaching for an intriguingly titled book about African wildlife when the library doors slid abruptly wide and a voice crowed, “Ollie Ollie oxen free!”

She jumped, and then jumped a second time as a small brass automaton burst from the stacks behind her, crying, “Who’s it?”

“You are!”

“What?”

“I found everyone else. The Spine was just walkin’ around! Come on…”

They seemed to have noticed her at last. The littler one blinked large blue eyes and smiled winsomely.

“Hello!” he cried, and before she knew it he had stepped forward and put his arms around her as though embracing an old friend.

“Um…” She was at a loss. Fortunately, the other, a tall copper robot, said, “Drop her, dummins. She’s scared.”

The little robot let go abruptly.

“I’m not scared,” she said, straightening her smart tweed jacket. “But you have the advantage of me.”

“I do? I didn’t mean to… You can have it back.”

“She means she don’t know who you are, stupid. Hiya, lady. My name is Rabbit. This dumb doorknob is The Jon. Pappy said you’d be coming but he didn’t say when.”

“Oh… well, it’s a pleasure to meet you… I’m Professor Cornelia  Spot…”

The taller automaton stepped forward into the brighter light of the long windows and shook her offered hand. She could hear the soft ticking of his clockwork and the murmur of bubbling water in his boiler as she looked up at him. Walter had made this one, like the silver one, quite tall.

As the slanting sunbeams lit the copper automaton’s face, Cornelia’s eyes widened slightly. He was so ornate, so finely crafted. Verdigris patina curled through each delicately etched shape of his faceplates. Little curls of steam coiled from his cheek vents as he grinned down at her and she felt a strange flutter.

“Can I call ya Corny?” he asked with a mischievously lopsided smile.

Flutter. No one had ever tried to give her a pet name before... even a stupid one. “Um… not… no, I’d rather you didn’t.”

Rabbit laughed, and she smiled back queasily.

“Well, I don’t really blame ya! Whaddya wanna be called, then?”

“I… Professor Spot, of course.”

He snorted.

“What’s wrong with Professor Spot?” she asked, frowning.

“Well,” he giggled. “It’s just… is that really your name?”

“Yes!”

“But you have an accent…”

“Well, I come from Germany…”

“Do ya?”

She raised an eyebrow.

He held his hands up defensively. She noted their fine, delicate lines and swallowed hard as he added, “I’m just saying you…”

“Yes, I know.” She sighed. “Well, my name in German would be Stelle.”

“Shtellah?” asked The Jon.

She spelled it for them.

“Oh, Stella!” cried Rabbit. “Say… that’s real pretty! Can I call ya Stella?”

She was taken aback. He already had her at a loss. She was seldom at a loss. She didn’t think she liked it.

“I… suppose…”

“Great,” he drawled, smiling. “Well, I got a hot game of hide and seek goin’, so I’ll see ya around,” he said, turning away. He stopped. “You are gonna be around, ain’t ya?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Yes, I’ve come to work with the Colonel.”

“Aw, Pappy! Good, I’ll see ya at dinner!”

“Bye, Stella!” beamed The Jon as they jogged out.

“Cornelia…” she murmured. She’d always thought it was a pretty name… of course, she’d taken it thirty years ago when she’d arrived… perhaps it was time for something more modern.

She turned back to her book, pondering what a robot would do at dinner.


	2. Homesick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia presents her data to Colonel Walter... and has a moment to get to know The Jon a little better.

“Professor! Come in, please, have a seat.”

Professor Spot sat in the offered chair in what Colonel Walter called “the fifth laboratory” and set her files on the table before her.

“I understand you’ve already made a conquest.”

“I made a what, Colonel?” she asked abruptly, her neck burning suddenly.

“The Jon already gave you one of his special hugs. He reserves those for everyone he meets.” He smiled broadly.

“Oh… of course.” She fought the urge to ask what the copper robot had told him. “I… I found both automatons very impressive. Very human. But, is it really appropriate use of such remarkable creations to allow them to run about playing children’s games?”

“Recreation is necessary to a healthy mind, Prof… may I call you Cornelia? It would speed things up in our conversation.”

“Very well, if you like.”

“Of course, I could call you Stella,” he chuckled. “Now, don’t worry, I won’t. But I’m afraid Rabbit and Jon insist upon doing so. I hope that won’t bother you too much.”

“Not at all. I found it rather… I suppose the closest word would be ‘endearing.’”

“The closest? Why not just say it? I have found their little quirks endearing many, many times over the years.”

“Well, I’m sure these are just the little quirks programmed by their creator…”

He shook his head. “I taught them, like children. I programmed them with musical knowledge and nothing more.”

“Then, their personalities…”

“They came with each automaton. I did not decide to make The Spine obedient, or Jon affectionate, or Rabbit insolent, or Hatchworth…”

“Hatchworth?”

“Another surviving robot from the Dandy Candy Mine War of 1896. You’ll meet him later this evening. So how do you like it here so far?”

“It’s been fascinating, but if we could discuss my notes?”

“Very well,” he said with the barest trace of a sigh.

Cornelia pulled out her first file, relieved at having brought him around to business at last. The Colonel’s eyes widened at the thick packet of papers.

“This may take a while…” he murmured. “Possibly you could show me the highlights?”

“Actually, Colonel,” she replied. “These are the highlights. However, there is a summary, and an outline we can begin with, if you like.”

“Excellent!”

“I’m afraid it will be difficult, however, to maintain an honest working relationship unless I am brutally frank about how I came by my data.”

“Oh, that sounds intriguing,” he said with a grin. “You didn’t have to kill many people for it, did you?”

“Colonel Walter,” she said tersely. “You have the most discouraging way of treating one as though one is a child.”

“I apologize. I shall endeavor to treat one as an eminent scientist. But you do pique my interest. What is this spectacular secret?”

“You’re still mocking… but no matter. Sir, we spoke of an alternate dimension… of many of them, in fact. You gave me to believe that your research had led you to the conclusion that such things exist and can indeed be reached… that you in fact have come close to achieving this. Correct?”

“Well, as far as you’ve stated. Bearing in mind, of course, that coming close to something in science terms may mean never arriving at all.”

“I realize that, sir. I realize how long it may take to do so. But I also have my research to add to yours. And my research is extensive… and there’s something more. I have, in fact, already achieved inter-dimensional travel.”

Walter laughed, stopped, smiled, frowned, and gasped, almost all at once.

“I beg your pardon…”

She took a deep breath. Here was where she usually lost them. Closing her eyes, she said, “I have come from one of them myself, Colonel.”

Silence except for the ticking of the clock. She forced herself to remain calm, to breathe slowly. She had thought he’d heard this from his colleagues, that he was untroubled by it. But she found his apparent shock disquieting.

“I thought they were joking…” he said, his voice filled with wonder.

She risked opening an eye. Walter was just reaching for her files.

“May I examine these overnight, Cornelia?” he asked, a tremor in his voice. “Then we can discuss them more effectively tomorrow.”

“Of course!” she almost shouted. He believed her? “Then… we can continue… you aren’t going to tell me it’s impossible, that I’m mad?”

“No, of course not! I said before that I’d come close to it myself! Good grief, Cornelia… I was afraid my colleagues had exaggerated, I didn’t dare hope… I must examine these. Excuse me!”

He all but ran from the laboratory. Cornelia sat, staring, waiting for her head to clear.

He believed her. Someone believed her.

Of course, she knew it was true even when no one else did. She had come from Snornia to Earth, it had happened, and nothing would make it otherwise. But while there was no love lost between her and her family, she did have friends, she did care about her homeland… she did get homesick. There was the scientific side to her desire to be believed, to be at long last recognized for having found the way to pass between dimensions, but underneath it all was that homesickness, only amplified by the idea that she might never see her home again.

She found, to her chagrin, that she was weeping.

“Ma?” came a voice. “Why are you crying?”

A moment later, the little robot known as The Jon came into the lab.

“Oh!” he cried. “Stella! You’re the one who’s crying…”

She hastily wiped her tears but he was at her side in a moment. He knelt beside her chair… though he was littler than his brothers, he was still a good deal taller than she was… and held her hand.

“What’s the matter?” he asked gently, and she realized that Walter was right… this wasn’t programming. He was concerned. His shocking blue eyes looked into hers worriedly, as though he would cry any moment in sympathy.

“Don’t cry, Stella. Are you lonely? Are you lonely for your home?”

She gasped. How could he know?

“I thought so,” he said softly, squeezing her hand. “You’re from the other place. I knew you were special.”

“I’m special?”

“Of course! My koi visits there sometimes. Pappy doesn’t understand, though. He thinks it’s my imagination. He knows about the other place but he still doesn’t understand.”

Neither do I, she thought. “Koi?”

“In my vortex… I have a koi. It’s an exotic fish. There’s a hot dog in there, too. But I don’t wanna talk about that.” He looked at her still more intently, searchingly. “How can I make you happy, Stella?”

Flutter. His eyes gleamed at her, still more vivid because of the shining golden hue of his face. How lovely…

“You’re very kind,” she breathed, “but…”

“Jon? Where are you? We need a fourth for…”

The silver automaton looked into the lab. His dark eyebrows raised quizzically. Professor Spot hastily pulled her hand away from Jon’s, but Jon only reached out and took it again absent-mindedly as he turned to his robotic sibling.

“Hi, Spine! This is Stella! She’s sad…”

The Spine walked in, his expression still more puzzled. “That’s Professor Cornelia Spot…” he explained. He nodded to her. “How do you do, Professor?”

“I… I’m fine,” she stammered, wiggling her fingers. Jon smiled and patted her hand.

“Rabbit changed it. She’s Stella now.”

“Jon, I think the Professor would like to get up,” The Spine said, to her relief.

“Oh!” cried The Jon. He stood and helped her stand as well.

Her relief was short-lived. The Jon was still holding her hand.

“How can we make her happy, Spine?”

“I think maybe it would make her happy if you let go of her hand, Jon,” The Spine whispered.

“Oh, no, it won’t, ‘cause she was unhappy _before_ I held her hand!” The Jon cried. He stood very still for a moment and turned to her. “Oh... Do you want me to let go, Stella?”

She had been ready to say she did when she took one look at his face and said, “No. I don’t mind at all.”

Jon beamed, and the room seemed brighter. “Does it make you happy for someone to hold your hand, Stella?”

“It didn’t in the past,” she murmured, bemused. She looked cautiously up at The Spine. He looked back with a slight smile.

“Won’t you join us, Professor? We were going to play some card games.”

“Well, as I’m waiting for the Colonel to review my research, I suppose I could come along and watch.”

“This way, then. Jon?”

Jon led Cornelia after The Spine, still holding her hand.


	3. Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short interim chapter... more feels than science, much to Cornelia's dismay.

They entered the library, where they found two identical teenage boys waiting.

“Say, that’s the new girl,” cried one.

“No, she’s come here to study,” said the other. “The new girl arrives next week.”

“Well, this one will do. Hiya, honey!”

Professor Spot frowned. The Spine said hastily, “Three, this is Professor Cornelia Spot. She’s come to work with Father for a while.”

“Three, you stupid!” laughed the other boy.

“Hey, I didn’t know!”

“You didn’t ask,” she said coldly. “The Spine, I think perhaps I would rather go to my room until dinner…”

“Oh! Very well… Jon, if you could let the Professor go, I’ll show her to her room.”

Jon let her go… after embracing her once again and whispering, “It’s okay, Stella. You don’t have to play anything you don’t want to.”

“This way, Professor.”

She followed The Spine quickly out, hearing muffled laughter coming from the room as one twin teased the other.

“Thank you,” she said. “I do not believe I am sufficiently resilient to tolerate youthful hijinks at the moment.”

“Of course, Professor. I would suppose you’d need time to settle into the haphazard ways of Walter Manor.” He added, a moment later, “Three means no harm, but he has taken an interest in girls well beyond that of his brother.”

“Yes, I suppose that does happen. Even twins have differences.”

“Not that Two has no interest in girls, mind you. Just that Three has taken it rather too far. Some boys do that… take an interest in girls well beyond others…”

“Yes, of course,” she murmured, confused.

“Take Rabbit, for example…”

She coughed. He stopped.

“Are you alright?”

“Just a slight cough. What were you saying?”

“Oh, I was just saying that different people see things differently, I suppose…” he murmured.

“That they do...”

“Well…” he began, smiled almost nervously, sighed, and said, “This is your room, Professor.”

“Thank you.”

“Dinner is at six o’clock.”

 _I’ll see ya at dinner…_  She swallowed and said, “Alright. Do you dress?”

“No, it’s very difficult to have a formal dinner with such an assortment of unruly boys and robots. To tell the truth, we're fortunate to be able to get everyone to the table at once without destroying half the house!”

The Spine laughed. His face was transformed as he did, from shockingly human-like to just plain human. She stared in amazement. The metal plates were still visible, the gaps between them sometimes revealing hinges and wiring. Yet with this frank smile, this burst of amusement at the antics of his less disciplined brothers, The Spine’s search for humanity seemed to have come full circle.

“How are all of you possible?” she asked abruptly. “How is it that the Colonel has managed to create life on this scale?”

His laughter evaporated at the personal question. “I beg your pardon?”

“My apologies, The Spine. I did not mean to pry… but it seems to me that you and your robotic brothers are more alive than any human being I’ve met since I came to this… this country. Your father has created something amazing!”

“Professor… do you really think so?” he asked, a curiously bright, childlike look in his gleaming green eyes and a curl of steam escaping his lips as he spoke.

“Of course! Haven’t you been told? Surely you realize…” She hesitated. His lower jaw trembled slightly and he looked away.

But of course, he was the one who wanted so much to be human, she remembered guiltily. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to... The Spine?”

"Hm?" He didn't look up.

"Well, I..." She had never been the nurturing, sensitive type, never really known how to comfort someone. She had a terribly hard time apologizing beyond the basic words, "I'm sorry," but he had gone from being so cheerful to being so downcast that it made her ache. She had touched a tender subject and wanted to make it right if she could. "I am very sorry, The Spine... I was only amazed at you and your brothers... you're remarkable construct..." She stopped. That would make it worse, wouldn't it? "You're remarkable people... I don't know what else will help... Are you alright?"

He looked down at his hands. Steam poured thickly from his collar. “I… don’t know what you want me to say, Professor…”

He’s not hurt... he's being shy… he’s reacting to my personal comments with shyness! So alive!

“I apologize again,” she said hastily. “I am sometimes brash and uncouth. Forgive me.”

“Think nothing of it,” he replied, seeming relieved to return to the common niceties after her uncomfortable rambling. “I hope you find the room to your liking. If not, just let me know.”

“Thank you,” she said as warmly as she could manage. "I'm sure it will be fine. I... I'm glad to have met you, The Spine. I'll see you later."

He looked up at last and smiled shyly, and for the third time that day, Cornelia fell in love.

Alarmed, she thanked The Spine a third time, hurried into her room and shut the door rapidly behind her.


	4. Overwhelmed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner with three robots, two teenage boys, and their mama.

She spent the time between then and dinner absorbed in the book she’d found in the library earlier. She wondered that she’d been able to concentrate on it at all. She had been walking, talking science when she’d entered Walter Manor. Now, as she put down her book at the chiming of the hour, she wondered whether she could go through with this.

From the Colonel’s delightful enthusiasm about her data to her own childish reactions to the robots, Cornelia had spent her day feeling more emotional than she remembered feeling since she was a youngster. She wondered mostly at her own emotional response to the Walter automatons. In her thirty years on Earth, she had felt no real attachment to any of the humans she had met. Even the charming Colonel Walter, who so readily accepted her word on her dimensional research, did not excite any kind of friendly affection.

Yet in a few minutes, the ticking, thrumming robotic beings had each sparked feelings of awe, affection, amazement… the polite, shy Spine and the gentle, loving Jon already felt like younger brothers. And Rabbit… she swallowed hard. Yes, there was something about these beings that spoke to her.

And there was one more she hadn’t even met! What response would he inspire?

There was a soft scratch at her door. “Professor?”

It sounded like The Spine. She fought with herself for a moment.

“Yes?”

“I’ve come to escort you to dinner.”

“Have you really?” she asked, surprised. She set aside her book, straightened her jacket once more and slipped her shoes back on.

The Spine, she saw when she arrived at the door, had put on a vest and jacket. He looked at her askance, as though uncomfortable making eye contact.

“The others are waiting,” he said softly, holding out his elbow.

“Oh…” She reached up and took his arm, feeling like a duchess.

But the formality lasted only until they neared the dining room. The sounds of teenaged pandemonium didn’t so much drift as tumble from the room and infectious giggles filled the air… Rabbit’s laughter. The copper robot had a spoon dangling from his nose when she walked in on The Spine’s arm.

“Greetings, your m-majesty!” he crowed, rising from his seat and bowing. The spoon landed on his plate with a deafening clank.

“Rabbit,” The Spine chided.

What came over me earlier, wondered Cornelia. He’s worse than the teenagers!

“A thousand pardons, my brother!” Rabbit cried, hurrying around the table. He took her by the hand and led her to a seat with the same grace as his brother, and bowed once more.

“We meet again, Stella,” he crooned, close to her ear, as he pushed her chair into place. His voice was low, punctuated by the clicking and bubbling of his inner works.

Flutter. She fought the urge to swear as he giggled. The twins joined him.

The Spine sat beside her, to her relief. The Jon was on her other side. She felt a bit safer until Rabbit, huffing steam and leering, toddled to the other side of the table and sat directly across from her.

Oh, dear.

Colonel Walter hurried into the room. “Iris?” he called unceremoniously. “Iris, darling…”

Only then did Cornelia notice the woman sitting at the head of the table. “Oh, I beg your pardon!” cried Cornelia. “I’m… my name is…”

“Professor Cornelia Spot. It’s alright. I didn’t expect a formal introduction in all this,” Iris replied, gesturing to her sons, who were in the middle of some sort of struggle with Rabbit. “I'm Iris Walter, mother of these mad boys. I apologize for not making your acquaintance sooner. I have many duties in the household, and there have been a few staff changes lately.”

“They come and they go,” Rabbit said lightly, easily holding the twins apart. “Can’t abide the madhouse. Bunch of wilting lilies.”

“Hush, Rabbit,” said Iris. “Boys! Ahem... Peter, aren’t you going to sit?”

Walter, who had been politely waiting until they finished speaking, said, “That’s what I wanted to tell you. I’d like my dinner in my room. I must finish reading through Cornelia’s remarkable research.”

“My goodness, it must be something, then! Very well. I’ll see you later.”

They kissed briefly and exchanged a look of significance, before he hurried from the room, that made Cornelia blush and look toward the robots. Rabbit was balancing a spoon on one finger, but The Spine was looking at her.

“I understand the food is excellent,” he told her. “Of course, I’m no judge…”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” she said, awkwardly patting his hand where it lay on the table. He hastily put it into his lap and looked away. She smiled and turned to The Jon.

“So, I've been wondering... What does a robot do at dinner?” she asked as a maid set a bowl of soup in front of her.

The same maid placed a glass of water before each robot.

“Fill up, just like you!” The Jon said pleasantly. He picked up his water and took a long drink.

“Of course,” she sighed, and started on her own soup. It was very tasty.

"Well, Cornelia..." said Iris a little while later, as the soup bowls were being cleared away. "May I call you Cornelia?"

She nodded.

"We call her Stella!" crowed The Jon.

"So I heard," Iris murmured, smiling at Cornelia and giving a slight wink. "That can be your special name for her, hm?"

The Jon giggled... his laughter sounding as innocent as Rabbit's was wicked. But it gave Cornelia the same flutter... well, perhaps a bit more gentle...

She realized Iris was speaking.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your research..."

"Oh, no, I mean... I'm afraid I was miles away." She blushed fiercely. She didn't like being miles away. She'd always been so present... She happened to look at Rabbit, who was blowing bubbles in his water glass, oblivious. Jon patted her hand.

"Stella misses her home. Don't you, Stella?" he said sadly.

Uh-oh... how much did The Jon really know about that?

"But of course you do," Iris said soothingly. "Well, we'll do our best to make this a second home to you, Cornelia."

"Thank you," she replied.

"That's gonna be hard, 'cause she's a..."

"A very punctual person!" Cornelia cried, rather loudly. Rabbit snorted with laughter and water shot straight into the air.

"Rabbit!"

"Sorry," he said contritely, water dripping from his face. A maid handed him a towel and he began swabbing his head and the table.

"I startled him..." Cornelia apologized. "I was just saying that I'm very punctual, but of course I don't expect the household to be so. Go on as you usually do... I'll adjust." She hoped.

She risked another look around. The Spine was looking at her with a reassuring smile. The Jon was holding her hand again. And Rabbit was wearing the towel like a babushka. The twins guffawed. Rabbit looked at her and waggled his eyebrows with a clicking sound. She stared, swallowing hard.

He stopped and pulled off the towel. "No kiddin', Stella. If ya ever feel bad or lonely, come get us. We have to shut off sometimes but we don't hafta rest at night like the humans. Okay, Stella?" He smiled. "Ya really don't mind if we call ya that?" he asked softly.

Cornelia smiled, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt. Well, it felt like her skin was on fire, but she really hoped it didn't show either way. She took a long drink of water, aware the whole time that he was still staring at her, waiting for her answer. I can't do this, she thought. What's wrong with me?

"Not at all," she almost whispered, forcing the smile back onto her face.

"Are you alright?" asked The Spine.

"I think perhaps I should go lie down... Excuse me."

She pushed away from the table and rose. Her head swam and she caught the table for support. The Spine stood so quickly that his chair fell over backward.

"I'll walk you there..." he said, taking her arm.

"Spine, a moment," said Iris. "Are you quite alright, Cornelia? Would you like me to call a doctor?"

"No! No... I'm just very tired from traveling. A night's rest will see me better. Thank you."

"Very well. Spine, handle her carefully. See that she reaches her room and I'll come along later and make sure she's alright."

"Yes, Mother," he replied.

He calls her mother, thought Cornelia. That's... that's adorable...

She clung to his arm as another wave of dizziness hit, hoping it didn't show as they headed upstairs.


	5. Hatchworth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fourth brother appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The longest chapter yet, I believe... not sure why. I guess because there were less interruptions with everyone else sleeping...

Cornelia tried to sleep, but couldn't. She kept hearing the clicking and bubbling... Also, less vividly, she heard The Spine's soft voice, and saw his shockingly human smile, and felt The Jon's gentle hugs.

 But above any of these, as the hours passed, she felt hunger. She'd only had the soup. She needed protein, she knew... meat. Though she had come here and lived as the humans did, her dietary needs were still much as they had always been. And they had always included a lot of meat.

 There had been a roast for dinner. Possibly there was some left?

 Deeply uneasy at the thought of taking such liberties in a home in which she was a guest, and that for less than a day, she rose and slipped into her dressing gown.

 The house was silent. She padded down the stairs in her soft slippers, and tried to remember which way the kitchen was.

 As she moved along the darkened halls, from time to time she could hear various sounds... clicks and whirrs, bubbling and wheezing, like the robots and yet not like them. Then she heard a faint whine... a murmuring, sort of shrill and then soft, like a low whistle. She realized someone was quietly singing.

 "I only know I looove you, love me and the world is miiine!" it crooned, soft and high, punctuated by a quiet thumping.

 She walked into a living room, its furnishings worn and well used. In one corner were crates filled with games and toys, and in another a larger crate of the sort used to transport stoves and iceboxes. There was a soft glow coming from inside, as well as the thumping sound. As she stared, the crooning began once more.

 "I wander on as in a dream... my goal a paradise must be..."

 The singing grew crackly and the voice began to stutter and puff fitfully, like someone trying to cry without quite knowing how.

 "Somebody wake up..." it murmured piteously. "The Jon? The Spine? Rabbit? Please wake up..."

 "Hello?" she said softly.

 There was a thud and the box shuddered. She cringed.

 "Who is there?" the voice cried, crackling sharply. "Do not come closer!"

 "I... um... my name is Cornelia."

 The box trembled. "Are you a spirit?"

 "Why, no. I'm a woman."

 "Are you a woman spirit? I have heard they can be tricky."

 She sighed. "I'm flesh and blood. What's your name?"

 "I do not understand those words."

 "I... am... not... a... spirit," she said slowly, bemused. "Your name? What is your name?"

 "My name is Hatchworth."

 "Won't you come out?"

 "I do not understand..."

 "Will... you... come... out?" she tried.

 "Alright."

 There was some rattling of objects inside the box. As its inhabitant extricated itself from whatever debris surrounded it, she pondered their conversation, wondering what had confused it... him, she realized. This was, of course, the fourth brother they had mentioned.

 A bronze robot in a black derby opened a slat of the wooden crate and peered out, his blue eyes gleaming in the dim room, illuminating oil streaks on his face as he looked up at her.

 "I do not know you," he said abruptly, and disappeared once more, the slats swinging freely where his head had been.

 She fought the urge to laugh. "I won't hurt you."

 "I do not understand those words..."

 Sigh. "I... will... not... hurt... you."

 "No," he replied firmly.

 "I'm sure you are much stronger than I am," she said softly.

 "I do not under-"

 "Right. You do not understand those words," she replied irritably, adding, under her breath, "but why?"

 Stilted, rigid thing, she thought. Of course, he was a robot, but so were the others. Yet they seemed much more human, much more organic. This one wouldn't even use contractions...

 She clapped her hand to her head. "I am sure you are stronger than I am," she said, careful not to use contractions. "I cannot harm you."

 "That is your story," he squeaked.

 Aha! First issue solved.

 "Come now. You saw me. I surely am not strong enough to harm you, am I?

 "You might have brought a strong friend."

 "I'm... I am alone! See?"

 The wood slate swung aside and she could see his eye.

 "No... Yes... Maybe your friend is hiding."

 "I am alone. I promise."

 "Oh. Pappy says promises are not to be made lightly."

 "Indeed they are not. My word is my bond. I am alone."

 "I... think that I believe you."

 "Very good," she sighed. "Now that we have that settled, what's... what is wrong? Are you lonely?"

  _Are you lonely for your home?_ She sighed inwardly. The Jon would do this better, but she had no idea where to find him.

 His voice was very small as he replied, "Yes. I was."

 "Oh..." She started moving closer. "Why did you not wake your brothers?"

 "They need to rest. They will not want to be woken."

 "Have they ever said that?" she asked. She couldn't imagine The Jon or The Spine complaining. Rabbit, possibly... Then she remembered the gentle way he had spoken to her at dinner, promising to comfort her if she felt lonely, and decided, with a flutter, no, not even Rabbit.

 "No, but they will not want to be woken. I am a big robot..."

 Puzzling. But then, she realized, that was a very human trait, being unable to ask for help. He couldn't seem to comprehend contractions, but he still had that same curious humanity that filled each Walter robot.

 She moved still closer. He was humming to himself now. The thumping resumed. Curious, she slid the boards aside and peered inside.

 He was rocking himself. Like a lonely child...

 Flutter.

 She was getting used to those.

 "May I keep you company instead?" she murmured sympathetically.

 He jumped and let out a soft, shrill cry.

 "I'm sorry..."

 "I did not know you were still there..." he squeaked.

 "Oh, yes, I was just..."

 Her stomach growled. How embarrassing!

 "You are hungry."

 "Yes, I am... I almost forgot."

 There was a flash of light inside the box. She took a step backward.

 Hatchworth crept halfway out of the box and held out a sandwich.

 "Where did that come from?" she asked, surprised.

 "I... do not know."

 "What?"

 "I only made one this time. I can make a hatch's worth. That is why that is my name."

 What a silly reason for a name, she thought, reluctantly accepting the sandwich. It was mostly meat, though what kind...?

 "I thought you would like that one the best," he said, his mustache smiling up at her as he crouched, propped on his elbows. "I am very good at guessing."

 "Oh..." Well, he was out of his box, somewhat, and watching her expectantly. And it did smell good...

 She took a bite. It tasted as good as it smelled.

 "Thank you, it's delicious," she said. He beamed. "But why do you spend the night in that crate?"

 "It is my fort. The others helped me to make it after Pappy ordered the icebox."

 "Don't... do you not have a place to power down for the night?"

 "I like my fort. It is safe."

 "But you were whimpering in it..."

 He hung his head. "I was lonely in the night. I remember scary things and then I do not feel good."

 "Scary things?" she asked, chewing. "Oh, the war, possibly?"

 He nodded.

 "That would be scary... Well, may I keep you company? I was feeling lonely too."

 "Have you been to war?"

 "I've... I have had my share of battles... Not exactly war, though."

 This was apparently good enough… or bad enough. "You can share my fort! Then we will be safe together!" He crawled back inside.

 She smiled and followed. Inside were blankets, toys, an oil can, a tin of mustache wax and several empty canteens.

 "Your fort is well stocked, Hatchworth... Such that I cannot find anywhere to sit."

 He scooped an armful of debris to one side and mounded up a blanket for her to sit on. "Humans like things to be soft. Their fleshy parts feel pain if they do not," he reported with an air of authority.

 "Good to know..." She sat, cross-legged, on the blanket and looked more closely at her host. She fortunately had excellent night vision and could see him well by the light from his eyes and from a softly glowing circle on his chest.

 "Where do you come from, friend?"

 "I come from a long way away," she replied.

 "Somewhere special..."

 She paused in mid-chew. "Have you been talking to The Jon?"

 "I sometimes notice the same things he does. We all have Blue Matter cores, but The Jon has a special one. Mine is also special. I can make sandwiches. I can bring other things as well."

 He reached into the blue circle on his chest and handed her a glass of water.

 "But sandwiches are my best."

 She drank the water gratefully; the bread was on the dry side. "Thank you. Do you often feel lonely?"

 "No. Only at night."

 "But that _is_ often!"

 "Is it? I did not know..."

 "My goodness... Well, what can I do to help you, do you think?"

 He stared at her for so long she thought he might have shut down. "I like stories."

 "Oh, dear, well..."

 "The ones with pictures are best. Lots of pretty colors. And lizards."

 "Lizards," she chuckled. "Well, we have that in common."

 "You also like lizards?"

 "Very much," she replied, a bemused smile creeping to her lips.

 "What about spiders?"

 "What? I have nothing against them."

 "I like spiders."

 "Well, I have no spider stories, but possibly one about lizards, or a kind of lizard..."

 "With pictures?" he asked, eyes gleaming with hope.... and Blue Matter.

 "Well... it has been a long time since I tried this, but..." She hesitated. "If I tell you a story, will you shut down for the night?"

 "I will be so happy I will go into stasis with a smile."

 "Alright." She munched the last bite of her sandwich and set down her glass. Hatchworth promptly scooped it up and stuffed into his hatch, where it disappeared with a flash. She blinked at this, pushed up her sleeves, and began to speak.

 "Once upon a time, long ago in the magical land of Snornia, there was a mighty dragon king..."

 She concentrated, waving her hand before his optics, hoping they received light in a manner that would make this work the same way it did on human eyes. Her fingertips glowed as she gestured, tracing a shape in the air before him. His eyes widened, and his mouth shaped into an O of wonder.

 "This mighty king was a terrible tyrant, and all he wanted was everything he could gather, for dragons are naturally greedy. But he did not seek the nobler road of self-mastery over nature, choosing instead to indulge his lusts and glut himself on the work of his subjects."

 The dragon took shape under her fingers, at first grand and majestic, then skulking before her audience, pursuing beasts, treasures, and beautiful dragon maidens. She took a deep breath before proceeding.

 "One day, he decided he wanted to take a wife. And so he determined that none would do but the fairest, highest born dragon maiden in the land." She began to craft the maiden. "Only it seemed that this maiden, with scales of a lustrous green that shimmered in all the colors of the rainbow when sunshine struck them, and eyes of flame red, was already imprinted upon her betrothed..."

 "What is imprinted, Cornelia? What does this mean?" asked Hatchworth, watching the beautiful dragon maiden with her betrothed.

 "Oh, it's... it is something animals do. When an egg hatches, the hatchling imprints upon the creature that is there to take care of it. Only in the dragon kingdom, when two dragons meet who have the right connection, they imprint upon each other. Then they may wed none other. Dragons imprint for life." The two dragons nestled together.

 "Oh... that is lovely."

 "It can be..." she sighed. She wouldn't know... she secretly suspected it was all talk and that dragons simply fell in love like any other creature. And who was to say whether both dragons agreed on the matter? "Well, the dragon king did not care one bit for the maiden's desire. He flew to their estate in the night and found them waiting. Without a word, he swept down, large and savage, and destroyed her beloved..."

 "Oh, no!" Hatchworth cried, as the two dragons were torn from one another.

 Oops... "I am sorry... perhaps I chose the wrong story. I will stop..."

 "No!" he cried. "I cannot rest if I do not hear the ending!"

 "Alright... shush, you'll... you will wake the others..." She took a deep breath, listened to the soft hum and hiss of Walter Manor, and continued, "But the maiden did not fall to grief under the weight of her loss. She instead chose to accompany the king back to his palace without a struggle."

 "How could she?" moaned Hatchworth.

 "Just listen to the story, Hatchworth..." The maiden was flying behind the dragon king, head hanging low. "So the wedding was celebrated, and the maiden retired with the king to the wedding chamber..."

 "Why?"

 No. "Just listen, please, or you will never find out what happens."

 "Sorry!"

 "And when the king entered the chamber, he found the maiden waiting, beautiful in the gentle fires of the chamber sconces. He was sure he had gained what he most desired, and that he was in all ways right in his actions. But the maiden told him that she could not be the true bride of any dragon upon whom she had not imprinted. The dragon king said he did not care for her heart, only her compliance."

 "Compliance in what? What kind of compliance?"

 She raised an eyebrow and he put his hand over his mouth. She waved her fingers, careful to keep these images vague.

 "So she said, 'Then you invoke the curse of my people. If you touch me without my consent, you risk your own speedy destruction.' And the king laughed and made free with her according to his desires."

 Hatchworth opened his mouth, saw her expression, and snapped it shut again. She didn't know how much robots knew about sex, but she did not want to be the one to tell him if he didn't already know.

 "And as he slept, content in his conquest, his palace shuddered around him, collapsing and trapping him forever beside her, and she laughed as it fell, for it was her curse that had brought it down upon them. For she had not fallen to grief, but to madness, and had called all the power of her family to his destruction. And there they remain today, the pile of stones a reminder to beware all tyrants, and to resist them in every way."

 Hatchworth stared, a half smile on his face, at the crumbling of the palace. As the images faded and it became clear that the story was over, his last remnant of a smile dropped.

 "Ready to sleep?" she asked.

 "That was not a happy story!" he cried mournfully as the last light faded.

 "Oh... I guess... not. My people don't really have a lot of happy stories. I always liked that one because the evil king died in the end..."

 "Along with everyone else!"

 "Ssh! Well... I don't... I do not really know any others..."

 He gasped. "You do not? That is terrible!"

 "It really is..." she sighed.

 "I will tell you one, friend! Then we can both sleep."

 "Oh, alright. You know a happy one?"

 "Yes! Once upon a time there was a princess who had no gravity, and she floated everywhere, and her pappy was very upset because it was all his sister's fault. And the princess never cried, either, because that is also gravity."

 "Alright..." she murmured, bemused.

 "And one day she floated into the lake by accident, and the water made her clothes heavy so that she had just enough gravity to swim, and she liked it so much she swam every day. But one day when she was swmming a long way out she met a lost prince who fell in love with her and came to swim with her every day. But one day the lake started getting lower because the king's sister was up to shenanigans again..."

 "She does sound like trouble."

 "Hush, friend. So the princess was so upset that she went to bed and the prince did not see her anymore and he was sad. So he got a job shining her shoes to be near her. And one day someone found a plate in the lake that told how to fill it up once more. It read that a man had to sacrifice himself to plug the hole. And since no one else would volunteer, and since the princess seemed sure to die without the lake, the prince said he would do it if she sat by him in a little boat until the end, and gave him food and drink and comforted him."

 "Oh!"

 "Yes, I know. It is very heartbreaking. So the princess was placed in a little boat and the prince blocked the hole with his hands and feet and the lake began to rise. And as it rose, the princess, who had no gravity, did not seem to worry about the poor prince dying until at last the water touched his lips... and then his nose... and then his head. And she screamed and jumped into the lake and pulled with all her might until she had him out and in her little boat, and rowed until her little hands bled, and took him back to the castle."

 "My goodness..."

 "And she and her nurse took care of him until he opened his eyes at last, and the princess fell to the floor and cried for a whole hour. And when she did, the sky began to cry too, until the lake was filled. And when the princess tried to get up, she couldn't because she got all her gravity at once. And the prince taught her to walk so that she could walk down the aisle to him when the time came. And they lived happily ever after."

 "Oh, Hatchworth... did you make that up?"

 "No, Rabbit read it to me when I was just a head... He did the same for The Spine and The Jon."

 "Oh..." She lingered a moment over the charming image of Rabbit reading fairy tales to his younger siblings, though the mental image of each of them as disembodied heads was less than appetizing. "Well, it's... it is very nice, but what about the author of all their troubles? What of the king's sister?"

 "The princess stepped on her toe."

 Cornelia laughed.

 "And then her house fell on her and crushed her dead. So then the princess felt badly."

 "Um... yes. Well, can you sleep now, do you think?"

 "No. But I will go into stasis. Goodnight."

 His eyes flickered and went dark. His hatch light continued to glow softly.

 She blinked in surprise at his sudden compliance and looked at him. He looked for all the world like a tanned ginger man in this light, though like The Jon, he had a such a childlike nature. She felt another quiet flutter, wriggled stiffly off the blanket and tugged it over him unecessarily. Sighing at her silliness, she crept out of the fort.

To her surprise, The Spine was sitting on the couch nearby. She opened her mouth to say she knew not what before realizing his optics were shut, his head tipped forward slightly; mimicking human behavior even in his "sleep" mode. Next to him was a book, "The Collected Fairy Tales of George MacDonald." She wondered how much he had heard before he shut down.

Hoping she could find her room again, she crept past and out. When she had found the staircase and was sure of the way once more, she thought she could hear soft footsteps in the distance, and the click of a door. Shrugging, she hurried back to bed, finding that the story time had been as soothing to her as it had been to Hatchworth.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story Hatchworth tells here is The Light Princess by George MacDonald. He was a write in the 19th century who wrote with remarkable humor and imagination, and I personally think he's rather underappreciated.


	6. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All is going well with the science, but the distractions are getting worse...

The next morning she woke unusually late... unsurprising, given her late night. Indeed, she might have slept longer, had a maid not rapped at her door at nine. Iris had sent her breakfast in her room, with a note. It was a message from Colonel Walter, asking her to meet with him after she got up.

She ate quickly, pleased to see the amount of meat in the typical American breakfast reflected on her tray. It didn't do the humans much good but it met her requirements nicely.

Once she'd eaten, she dressed in her second best suit and hurried to her meeting with the Colonel, slipping hastily past any room that betrayed sounds of laughter. She couldn't afford any more distractions.

“Cornelia!” he cried as she entered the study. “It’s all I’d hoped it was! You’ve found the key to the whole thing!”

“I have?” she asked. “In what way?”

“I think that if we combine our findings, we’ll soon have a working portal to another dimension. Or should I say, to Kazooland. Or I really should say, _another_ working portal! Your work is truly brilliant.”

“Then you’ve read the whole thing,” she murmured, flushing with the praise.

“I couldn’t put it down, remember, I even missed dinner for it… Well, in a manner of speaking. But you must tell me more about this place you come from… There are humans there? Besides you, I mean?”

“Ah, well…” She hadn’t expected things to progress this rapidly! “Colonel, I haven’t been fully honest with you…”

“Here we go again! What secret do you have to tell me now?”

“I… am not precisely human, sir.”

His mouth opened and shut twice before he managed, “I… I suppose that’s no surprise. What do you call your people, then?”

“Well… they’re… they’re dragons, sir.”

“In the figurative sense, I hope,” he chuckled. He looked at her. She stared back. “Oh, no…”

“I’m sorry, Colonel. Yes, in the very literal sense.”

He leaned in and peered at her. “Do your people by any chance use the term ‘dragon’ to refer to a bipedal primate with no scales or dragon characteristics whatsoever?”

She shook her head. He cleared his throat and murmured, “Then I ask just this… Are you mad?”

“You want some proof, I assume?”

“I hesitate to ask… but yes, very much.”

“Well, if I were to change into my dragon form, I would overflow the study and destroy my clothing, but I believe I can show you something that would persuade.”

She unbuttoned her sleeve and extended her hand. Concentrating, she was able to reveal a small portion of her scaly red-gold hide, spreading it over her flesh with care. Colonel Walter swore soundly.

"Oh, I do beg your pardon!" he cried. "But I must confess I did not expect such..." He gulped. "Well, such tangible support to your claim..."

“I apologize, sir. You did say…”

“I did,” he breathed, reaching out. “May I?”

“Of course,” she said with resignation.

He touched the scales with one finger and started. “It’s real…”

“It’s as I said. I’m a dragon. I come from a wealthy and noble line, though I confess there has been no love lost between us. My brother was always jealous of my presence, fearing I would somehow take his inheritance, and my father wanted me to marry well to bring still more wealth and nobility to the line. It is very much a patriarchy there. He had no love of my choice to pursue science.”

“Then,” said Colonel Walter, finding his voice once more, “I am honored to meet you, and to have been taken into your confidence.”

“Not at all.” She buttoned her sleeve. “I am only grateful to at last have found someone who can help me to return home.”

“Home?” he asked. “It sounds… pardon me, but it sounds as though your home is not one you would want to see again.”

“Not so much my family, I confess,” she said with a tight smile. “But I do miss the places, and had friends there.”

"Hm. But I wonder... Why has no one believed you until now? Surely showing them what you showed me..."

"I have not shown anyone since coming here, sir. I have been very wary of who to trust with this information. As you can imagine, the very fact that I am what I am could put me at enormous risk should it become known to a more opportunistic man than yourself."

He smiled a lopsided, bemused smile. "Cornelia... I'm genuinely flattered... but I wonder why you've chosen to open up to me when half the Cavalcadium has already heard at least part of your account..."

She wasn't sure herself. She stared at him, thinking. "I suppose... it must be... your sons. The automatons, Colonel. If you cared more for gain than for others, surely you wouldn't allow them to run about playing games and reading..." She stopped, unsure whether she wanted to approach the subject of bedtime stories.

But there was a change in his expression and she realized he already knew. "Ah, yes. Yes, The Spine told me it was his turn to read to Hatchworth last night but you arrived ahead of him."

Her cheeks grew warm. "I had simply come downstairs for... well, I hadn't eaten much at dinner, to be honest..."

"It's quite alright. Make yourself at home. I wouldn't dream of any guest here going hungry. But how did you come to join Hatchworth in his fort?"

She squirmed. "He was... he was crying."

The Colonel's eyes widened. "Poor lad," he sighed. "We try to leave him alone for a couple of hours each night, to give him the chance to get to sleep on his own... Well, stasis, at least. But he usually needs a story first. I suppose it distracts him... Well, I am glad you're getting on so well with the lads."

"Lads? They're much like grown men, sir."

"And yet they are not. They're only seventeen, you know. Juveniles. They may have been constructed as adults, and were obliged to go promptly to war, but once Becile was stopped I quickly returned them to their basic forms and hoped they would grow like normal... well, like human children.

"Unfortunately, money was very tight until I came into the remainder of my fortune at 35 years old..."

"As old as that?"

"Erm, yes..." He looked sheepish. "When he saw my behavior toward Delilah, my father arranged for half the fortune to remain untouchable until my thirty-fifth year." He chuckled dryly. "In retrospect, I'm grateful. But as I was saying, it was necessary for the robots to fulfill their original directive and perform on stage. So possibly I am more opportunistic than you thought."

She shook her head. "That's different. And unless I am much mistaken, you were with them throughout their stage work, enduring what they did. Hardly the actions of a slave driver."

"I was. Well, very good, you trust me and I trust you. Well, as I said, I have done my best, when permitted, to allow them to have a childhood. Thus they have matured much like human children. Like their human brothers in fact. That puts them at a rather delicate stage just now... adolescence. Rabbit and The Spine have been especially challenging."

"The Spine?" she asked, surprised. Rabbit, yes; she absolutely believe it of Rabbit. She felt a little residual flutter at the thought of Rabbit being challenging and said, "He seems a very well-behaved... uh... young man."

The Colonel beamed. "So he is. But the trouble is that he's gone and become interested in girls."

"Oh..." she breathed, eyes wide.

To her surprise, he giggled softly. "I worry about it, truly. There's no future in such a connection, even should he find a woman interested in romance with a robot. And yet... it's charming... He wants so much to be human, and yet he is more human than he imagines..."

"Has... has Rabbit taken an interest in girls, too, then?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Not that I've noticed. He can be a terrible flirt but doesn't seem to suffer when rebuffed. I think it's play for him, another game."

"Ah."

"I just wanted to be clear about the situation before we go on. All things considered."

"Of course," she replied.

"Might I ask... if you would forgive the intrusion, but... how old are you?"

"My kind are long lived, but I am currently in early adulthood... not much older than Rabbit, relatively speaking."

"Ah, just so. Exactly."

She had a feeling she was missing something. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. "When do we begin work?" she asked quickly.

"Well, now is good for me!"

"Excellent," she said, relieved, scooping up her notes.

 

They worked the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, comparing notes, studying experimental data, planning future experiments.

The Spine came in at noon with sandwiches. "Sir? I've come to help..."

"Spine! Come in!" cried Walter, taking the lunch tray. "Are you hungry, Cornelia?"

She could smell a familiar aroma; it reminded her the sandwich from the night before. "I am, you know."

"Very good. Spine, have you already had some water?"

"I filled up before I came here, Father."

"Excellent."

"Hatchworth said that one is for the Professor," said The Spine, pointing to sandwich stuffed with sliced meat.

"My word..." murmured the Colonel. "Hatchworth must have an inkling... well, never mind. He usually knows just what to provide. Shall we?"

Walter gave Cornelia her lunch and sat down to his own. "We've made good progress, son," he said between bites. "I'm glad you're here. I'd like at least one of my sons to be with me for this."

"Rabbit wanted to go ahead and..."

"It's alright... I wasn't expecting Rabbit. He hasn't been interested in helping in the lab in years."

"Oh... I just thought... Never mind."

Cornelia was puzzled but continued to quietly eat her sandwich.

The Spine got started on the notes while they ate, reading all Cornelia had written about Kazooland. He looked at her in wonder at the revelation that she had come from there; however neither saw fit to inform him that she was a dragon.

As three o'clock approached, The Spine cleared his throat, to her surprise. Did robots need to do that?

"Father, it's almost time for music practice."

"Ah, yes, of course. Do you know, I believe I'll join you this time. Cornelia, would you like to come?"

"Music practice?" she asked.

"From their days singing on the stage. The boys still work on their music in anticipation of returning to it in the future, should they see fit. We had a little theater built into the house when they were still performing."

"We don't mind people watching when we practice," The Spine added enthusiastically.

"Oh..." Rabbit sings... she hadn't really made that connection before. She felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. "All of you sing?"

"Well, not Hatchworth, but the others, yes."

"But I heard him singing to himself last night," she murmured.

"Oh, I suppose that's possible, but he's had no formal training," the Colonel assured her.

She was surprised. His voice had been rather lovely. What did the others sound like, if that was how an untrained robot sang? "Well, yes, I think I would like to come."

The Spine beamed at her and they all set out together. He led the way at first but soon fell in step beside her as they walked.

"Your research is amazing, Professor," he said brightly.

"Thank you. You can call me Cornelia if you like, you know."

He smiled and looked down. "Oh, I don't think so..."

"Why not? Unless you'd prefer Stella?"

He laughed quietly. "Maybe I could call you 'Miss Cornelia'..." He looked at her sidelong. "Would that be alright?"

"That sounds just fine."

He looked away again quickly. "Alright. We're... we're going to sing some of the songs we used to sing on stage. We had a few popular ones..."

"I'm afraid I haven't paid much attention to popular music..."

"Oh, I suppose you would have been very young at the time..."

"Well, actually..."

"I hope Rabbit's still there. He said he was going to start early but he sometimes he forgets to go at all."

"Oh... he might already be singing?" The old flutter returned, joining the tingles.

"Yes... oh, I hear him. Yes, good, he's there."

She could just faintly catch a voice in the distance. As they neared the theater, it came through clearer... a smooth, sweet voice singing a love song.

"This way," said The Spine, holding open the door.

She nodded a thank you and walked into the little theater, where Rabbit was singing. She stopped so suddenly that The Spine bumped into the back of her. He caught her shoulders hastily before she fell.

"I'm so sorry," he stammered.

"Take care, son," said Walter, slipping past.

But Cornelia barely noticed. Rabbit was singing.

His voice was beautiful.

"Are you alright, Miss Cornelia? You're... you're trembling."

"Hm?" She felt his hands leave her shoulders at last, rapidly, as though he had only just realized they were still there. She walked, slowly, further into the theater, taking in every note.

"Feel like I never felt... seen things I've never seen... being with her will make me happy and I'm falling in love."

"Don't catch him," chuckled The Spine. "Please have a seat, Miss Cornelia."

Thick steam poured from his vents as he said it, and she smiled. He was polite, but really quite shy, she realized, as he hurried up to join his brother. The Jon was with him already, strumming a guitar and harmonizing. The Spine scooped up a guitar and joined them, adding his low voice to theirs.

"Few girls will offer you a love that feels like this," Rabbit continued, "don't ask for any more, just run and go with it..."

"What do you think?" asked Colonel Walter.

"Beautiful," she breathed, eyes on Rabbit. Well, after all, he was singing the lead part... of course she was looking at him. As she watched, he looked back at her and winked, returning to his song with a grin.

 She sat entranced as they finished the song and began another.

"Let's get back and get back on track in the lovely morning sun..."

"I think I've heard this one," she said, surprised. "Your robots sang it, too?"

"Well, to be sure they did. Rabbit wrote it."

"Did he really?"

"The other one, too. The Spine has a couple as well. The Jon writes them from time to time, but not many are usable. He tends to include long rants about the weather and voodoo and once even said something about dancing in the nude."

Cornelia surprised them both when she let out a little scream of laughter. The Colonel beamed.

"I enjoy them, myself, but you can see why we tend to only sing them at home."

"Yes," she giggled. "I can indeed."

"I've got a one way ticket to destiny, a one way road to my future and two way love with a special girl..." sang the robots.

"She's gonna make it right back, right back in my arms," Rabbit sang alone.

Cornelia's heart thumped sharply. She could swear he was looking right at her... What would it be like to be in his arms?

A sudden, vivid image of it popped into her mind... the sound of clockwork and bubbling water, the smell of oil, the feel of metal arms closing around her. She expected to find it laughable, even repellant. She didn't. Instead, a surge of heat shot through her body. She gasped.

"Are you alright?" asked Walter.

"Hm? Yes... yes, I'm quite alright..." she whispered, heart thudding against her ribs. This wasn't right... not right at all. She told herself, as she had over and over again since the previous day, that it was just awe, just being impressed with the technological wonder that he was, the curious humanity, the ready charm.

But the other three were every bit as impressive, yet none of them, even the charming Spine, had this effect on her.

"I think possibly I should go take a rest," she told the Colonel, getting up quickly.

"Oh, I'm sorry... of course, we've worked all day. Are you dizzy at all? Iris told me you had a spell of it yesterday."

"I'm quite alright," she gulped, inching toward the door.

The song changed and she glanced toward the stage. Rabbit was executing some kind of swaying dance move. She stumbled.

"Oh, dear," said the Colonel. "Spine... no, wait, you just got here. Rabbit!"

Oh, no...

"Yeah, Pappy?"

"Miss Cornelia is feeling faint again." 

No...

The Spine stopped playing and started toward the stairs.

"No, you practice, son. Rabbit, could you escort Miss Cornelia to her room..."

Just no...

"I could carry her, Pappy."

"Rabbit," The Spine murmured disapprovingly.

Every fiber of her being was screaming... but to her horror, it was not in protest. Quite the contrary. Even more alarming were the little murmurs from somewhere deep inside her... voices murmuring for him to be gentle...

They were saying, in a thrumming, primal voice like the flow of warm water over sunlit stones, older than written memory or recorded time, "You and you only, for no other will I submit, no one else's bride shall I be, until the stars grow cold in the heavens..."

 _What? No!_ she almost screamed. _It's a myth!_

"What's wrong Stella? Ya l-look worried..." said Rabbit, slouching down the steps from the stage. He smiled a lopsided smile that was presumably meant to be reassuring. She stared, enchanted... and horrified.

 _You only will I love..._ sang the voice gently. Cornelia panicked.

"NoIwouldn'twanttointerruptI'msuretheyneedtopracticeasagroupI'llbejustfine," she gasped, throwing open the door and running for it.

 "Cornelia?" said Walter, puzzled, as she made her escape.

"Girls," she heard Rabbit scoff.


	7. Adjustment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia does some thinking...

Cornelia ran.

She at first ran toward her room, but realizing that they would look for her there, she instead ran to the front door and outside. She didn’t stop until she reached a series of fenced gardens at the side of the house. One, surrounded by a high hedge, was an old-fashioned English style garden with stone paths and benches. She sank onto one in the most remote, dark corner she could find and stared down at her trembling hands.

This was terrible! Unthinkable! She thought it was awe? Not at all… “Infatuation” certainly wasn’t enough to describe it. This was even more troubling than falling in love.

She had been so sure, after all this time. So sure that imprinting was a myth, a starry-eyed fantasy… one of those romantic ideals they tell young dragons to make sure they marry and produce more dragons. “You’ll know,” they’d say. “How?” the youngsters would press eagerly, and the elders would smile and nod and assure them that it was the primal voice, the ancient song, and each one is different. And when you sing it for each other nothing may part you.

Only she hadn’t sung it… and his had just been a popular melody he had made up, for no one at all. So did it count, really?

She closed her eyes and heard the song, still reaching for something that would never reach back.

It did count. There was no denying it now. When he’d sung, her song had formed and answered, as surely as if it had come from her own mouth. She still felt its vibrations. A dragon couple, having sung their song, would be together now, touching, allowing the vibrations to blend and swirl. So she was told, and she could well believe it. She almost felt as though she could hold up a handful of it, it was so palpable…

Then, in time, the marriage would be solemnized and the family begun. But this! There would be no young dragons from this… She sighed. _That_ was something, at least! Pondering briefly the children of a robot and a dragon brought, to her surprise, a moment’s welcome amusement. But it soon passed.

“What do I do?” she moaned, putting her still shaking hands to her burning cheeks and giving way at last to tears. Her sobs sounded too loud in the quiet afternoon and she tried to muffle them in her sleeve, but she couldn’t stop. They subsided in time… She felt bloated and groggy but somewhat better all the same. The trouble was, she still didn’t know what to do next.

What she did was sit and wait. She couldn’t bear to go back inside, to see _him_ … She didn’t know how she would handle being near him without the traditional touching… she could feel the longing to go to him even now. Why, she wondered. Why an automaton? Even a human man might have left her with some hope, some chance of reciprocation.

She sat, as the shadows grew long, brooding. The dinner hour passed and the air grew cool. As dusk and dew began to settle over the garden, she heard footsteps.

“Not Rabbit, not Rabbit, not Rabbit!” she mouthed silently. She didn’t dare be with him here, alone… He surely didn’t share her feelings, but she was still afraid. Perhaps that was the very reason that she was afraid…

To her mingled relief and disappointment, Colonel Walter entered the little garden.

“Cornelia?”

“Colonel…” she sighed. “I’m terribly sorry, sir. I’ve wasted hours of good work time…”

“Not at all, please, you know what they say about too much work. No, I was concerned. When you had that spell and disappeared, I didn’t know whether you had chosen to vanish or were fainting somewhere in the house! Fortunately I happened to look out of one of the office windows.” He pointed up at the manor. “There’s a block of them on this side. I didn’t want to stir up the house and get everyone searching. I knew you would most likely not appreciate it.”

“Thank you, Colonel. I am just a little weary.”

He sat on a nearby bench and looked at her. “Pardon me for saying so, my dear, but I think it’s something more.”

“No, I…” She sighed. “Sir, I’m afraid I may have to leave very soon. I don’t believe I’ll be able to work under current conditions…”

“Oh, no! No, that wouldn’t be a good thing! You aren’t the only one who stands to benefit from combining our efforts, Cornelia… I didn’t just ask you here for scientific study, I asked you here because I have been homing in on Kazooland for years now and like you could find no one else who believed. Please, tell me what the trouble is and I’ll do my best to correct it.”

She nearly burst into fresh tears at this. What could he possibly do? What would he do if he knew the truth?

“I couldn’t help noticing you seemed particularly upset by Rabbit…”

“Oh, no, it’s not that…”

“It’s alright. He’s very unsettling, I admit. Very exuberant. I don’t wonder that you find him disruptive…”

She hesitated over this. This could possibly be the ticket…

“That is true,” she replied slowly.

“And my sons… my flesh and blood sons, that is. Three of them are a set, indeed. Up to all sorts of shenanigans. Well, now… How would it do if I found a room over by the offices for you to stay in, and asked them to give you a wide berth? Then you could concentrate on the experiments at hand and be able to remain in the manor.”

“I think that might work…” she murmured, surprised.

“Very good. I’ll see to it tonight. Meanwhile, if you like, I can have Hatchworth bring you a sandwich here or in your room…”

“My room, I think,” she replied, rising stiffly.

“Very good. It’s getting a bit damp. Come along, then, and then I’ll show you back to your room.”

 

Cornelia was moved into the office wing the following morning. She was able to throw herself into her work and tune out the lingering scraps of song still burn through her mind.

Until dinner, at least. Each evening, she was obliged to endure half an hour trying to choke down her dinner while avoiding looking at Rabbit as he giggled and joked with the twins. Colonel Walter had certainly spoken with them; Rabbit sometimes said, “Stella…” before suddenly changing the subject, no doubt having briefly forgotten the Colonel’s words.

But she was able to endure by talking with The Spine, who always seemed eager to discuss the day’s work, whether he’d been there for it or not. She supposed he was as curious as they were about the results.

Things went on well enough for a few weeks this way. She became accustomed to Rabbit’s presence at dinner, to eating despite the curious pull she felt, and the hum of the song, subdued but not stopped, whenever they sat in the same room. But one evening, she found that Rabbit was not as insensible to her as she’d thought.

“We should stop,” said the Colonel that evening, as the clock chimed six o’clock. “Iris will be expecting us at dinner, and I’d like to share our findings with her.”

Weary of the nightly struggle, she said, “Oh… I could keep on working while you…”

“Nonsense, my dear Cornelia. You must keep up your strength so that we don’t have a recurrence of your fainting spells.”

In the end, she was obliged to join him. She kept as calm as possible all the way to the dining room, which was unusually quiet. As they walked in, she realized why… the twins weren’t there.

“The twins are on a camping trip,” The Spine told her as he pushed in her chair.

“Ah,” she murmured. She noticed Rabbit and The Jon both seemed subdued.

“Yeah,” muttered Rabbit. She looked studiously at her fork, but could hear his sullen tone plainly. “Hope they stay there.”

“Rabbit,” chided The Spine.

The Jon just sighed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at The Jon.

“Nothing,” he mumbled.

“I’ll see what’s keeping Iris,” said Colonel Walter, walking back out the door.

After he’d gone, Rabbit shifted restlessly and finally blurted, “Don’t ya like us?”

“What?” she gasped, startling into looking up at him.

The song began afresh, stirring up into little eddying currents. She wondered that he didn’t seem to be able to notice. She could almost see it! She sighed and looked away.

“Ya don’t…” he said sadly. “I don’t understand…”

“Rabbit, this isn’t the time or the place…” The Spine began.

“When is? We never see her.”

The Jon sniffled as Hatchworth toddled from the kitchen wearing a ladies’ apron.

“What did I miss?”

“We were just asking why… why…” The Jon began, his voice breaking.

“Why Stella don’t like us…” murmured Rabbit, his voice trembling slightly.

“I do not understand…” began Hatchworth.

“No!” she exclaimed. “I like you… all of you… very much! I… I love you, I think…”

She stopped abruptly. That was too much…

“Do you?” The Jon whispered, eyes wide.

She looked at his hopeful expression and sighed. “I… really do. I promise. _Every one of you.”_

“Really?” breathed Rabbit. The song twirled a waltz through her thoughts as he said, “We love you too, Stella. Don’t we, Spine?”

The Jon and Hatchworth nodded as Cornelia’s heart began to pound, and not just from Rabbit’s words. They loved her? She hadn’t experienced much of that…

“Yes… we do,” The Spine said softly. He slid his hand across the table and stopped it just short of hers.

“But… why don’t ya want us around?” Rabbit asked, his tone still hurt.

“I… don’t… Rabbit, I’m sorry… It’s not that…”

She rose hastily but The Jon caught her by the hand. “We’re sorry, Stella. It’s okay if you don’t want us around…”

She stopped in the middle of pulling her hand away from his. “Jon, no… I do want you around. It’s just…” Her eyes flicked toward Rabbit for a split second. He looked pained. “It’s distracting.”

“Even at dinner?” Rabbit asked, in a low, skeptical tone. She looked at him.

His mismatched eyes glowed back, his expression unusually serious.

“What do you want from me?” she moaned unhappily.

He looked down. “I dunno. I just don’t like being pushed out. I thought we were friends.”

“Yeah,” said The Jon. “Aren’t we friends, Stella?”

“Of course, Jon!” she cried, and threw her arms around him on impulse. He hugged her back.

“Can you come play with us sometimes, when you aren’t working?” he said, muffled by her shoulder.

She couldn’t… Maybe The Jon, maybe The Spine, but if Rabbit was there…

If Rabbit was there, what? She’d hear the Song. That was it. She’d hear it and they would carry on playing cards or whatever suited their fancies. It was no worse than any other fixation that burdened the mind, was it? An itch that couldn’t be scratched, but nothing she couldn’t bear. And there would be much to console her in her suffering, she realized, as Hatchworth wrapped his arms around them both and The Spine rose and timidly joined them, his chin resting gently on her shoulder. Steam drifted softly around her head.

She risked a glance at Rabbit through the steam cloud. He looked indignant at being the last to the party as he jumped from his chair and ran around the table to wrap his arms around the four of them the best he could. He managed to put exactly one hand on her shoulder over all the other arms and bodies. She could feel a tingling sensation where he touched. He tweaked her experimentally, and then gave her shoulder a firm but gentle squeeze, as though trying to make up for the limited contact.

If the others were around, it would work. She could do this.

She giggled and felt a renewed urge to cry, an odd mixture of joy and longing. But she could bear it.


	8. You Only...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well... oopsy.

The Winter passed without any further trouble. Life at Walter Manor, though not running in the well-ordered regularity to which she was accustomed, did turn out to have a kind of rhythm. The twins attended school and Rabbit was once again friendly with them; apparently it was one of them that had teased the robots about Cornelia’s reserve toward them, and Rabbit hadn’t appreciated it.

Rabbit.

She had learned to cope with the curious new impulse, rather than allowing it to become a distraction. It wearied her at times, resisting it, but she read every scientific study she could find on the subject of resistance to impulses and various kinds of dependencies… She felt this was not unlike developing a fixation of other sorts, an urge to smoke, or the habit of using snuff. She practiced the various methods of distraction and substitution, reading or taking walks as needed when she felt the pull come over her.

Fortunately Colonel Walter, though enthusiastic about how close they were coming in their Blue Matter experiments, was not a slave driver when it came to her assistance and gladly parted with her help whenever she expressed the need to walk abroad.

Sometimes The Spine would join her, and she enjoyed the walk all the more. He conversed with her mostly about the science, but also about her world, about his home, about his hopes for the future. She wondered whether he had anyone else to listen, he was so eager to speak.

Sometimes in the afternoons, they would play card games, though the weather was usually fine. Rabbit was often there, but she was never alone with him. In time, she felt much more confident about her ability to resist any impulses.

And four months passed, almost unnoticed. They were still achingly close to successfully opening a return portal, hopefully more stable than the first, but Cornelia was enjoying living there so much that she had almost come to dread success. She would soon be able to go back, but would she have to stay? Would she then have no excuse to live in the first place she was ever really happy?

 

Cornelia stared out the window. She’d been trying to write down the previous night’s observations without success. Warm spring breezes had blown in that day, deepening her distraction.

At least, that was part of it; she had foolishly begun her work in one of the offices that overlooked the gardens, where Rabbit was helping Iris. The Spine had been asked to help, too, but seemed more interested in staring at the roses. Cornelia hadn’t realized robots could be so fond of flowers, or that The Spine was so easily distracted… he was usually more focused. But possibly his drive to be human had led him to floral appreciation.

As she watched, he looked up toward her window, saw her, smiled and turned back to the flowers quickly.

Rabbit trotted toward the house carrying a basket of vegetables. He soon trotted back out. She watched him and sighed.

Her distraction. She had learned to live with it and focus on her studies and tests. The song was barely noticable anymore and Rabbit felt more like a friend than a threat. And yet sometimes... well, it was no matter. It barely hindered her at all anymore.

_He shimmies when he walks…_

She smiled and rested her chin on her hands.

Rabbit took a few more shimmying steps and stopped, shaking his head. He tapped at his optics and walked further, stopping once more.

“Ma!” His voice cut through the air, easily heard in Cornelia’s room as he squinted toward the gardens. “My optics won’t reset!”

“What?” called Iris. “Reset?”

“They aren’t adjusting! The pupil shutters are wide open!”

“Oh, well…” It was obvious Iris had no idea what this meant. “Better have Cornelia look at them. Peter is still at his meeting.”

"But I ain't supposed to distract her, Ma!"

"'I am not supposed to,'" she corrected gently. "It's alright for once, Rabbit. Just tell her it's an emergency."

“Alright, Ma!” Rabbit turned back toward the house, squinting hard against the brightness of the afternoon.

A shot of white-hot panic pulsed through her like a strike of lightning. She wasn't ready!

But he needed her help... surely she could cope long enough to help him. She couldn't bear the thought of letting him down.

But at least she could make sure she didn't see him in her private chambers. Cornelia hastily stood and checked herself in the mirror. Well, that was as good as it got. She hurried down to the lab.

“Stella?” Rabbit was calling.

"Yes?" she called back as calmly as she could manage, wondering where everyone was. But of course; they were all outside on the grounds somewhere, with the exception of the Colonal who had a meeting at the Cavalcadium rooms in town.

"Oh, there you are," he said when he entered the long hallway. "Hey, I don't wanna bother ya but ma sent me... my eyes won’t recalibrate for the outside light and I gotta help Ma because the Spine is too busy mooning over the pretty flowers.”

“Oh, alright,” she said casually, even though the thought foremost in her mind was that she was going to be looking into his eyes.

The familiar flutter came back, accompanied by an almost painful thump as she led the way to the lab.

Rabbit settled into a lab chair and waited as she fetched the smallest tools.

“Say, Stella…” he drawled. “Since I got ya alone, I kinda wanted to talk to ya about something..."

Thump. She returned with a set of jeweler's tools. "Oh, yes?"

"I was just talkin’ to Ma about... things, an’ I wondered if you could tell me something…”

“Open your optics,” she said shortly. “What do you want to know?”

“Well… now, don’t jump to any conclusions, but… if you were to, say, hear that someone was sweet on ya, would you mind it?”

Her heart skipped the flutter and went straight to thump. She willed her hands to remain steady as she made the delicate adjustments. “Who exactly would this someone be?”

“I just said _if_ , now…”

“Hold still! Right.”

“So are you, ya know, interested in the whole idea, the romance thing?”

“Well, now, I… that’s very personal…” she murmured, her cheeks hot.

“I know, but it’s important to me, Stella… I really need to know. Would you ever consider it?”

“I suppose, under the right circumstances…”

“Great!" he said, grinning. "And... if he happened to be a little different… say a little less than fleshy… not exactly human… runs on steam… kind of a pain in the neck..." He chuckled nervously. "What then?”

“Rabbit,” she said breathlessly. “What are you saying?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all! I just said _if_ , right?”

She swallowed hard, hoping her trembling hadn't affected her work. “Right. Well… close your optics and count backward from thirty at one second intervals, and they should recab… recalb…”

“Recalibrate.” He closed his eyes and began the countdown, ticking off the seconds with clockwork precision.

She leaned heavily on the desk beside her. What was he asking? Was it… could it be? The song had returned, louder than ever, almost deafening...

“Twenty-eight… twenty seven…”

_His lips pucker when he says “twenty.” Humans express emotion through touching lips together…_

She had never had any interest in trying it until now. She only wondered for a split second how a copper robot was even able to pucker. She closed her eyes and turned away until he had gotten to nineteen, barely daring to breathe.

Learned to live with it, indeed! How her heart was pounding! For a little while she had almost begun to wonder if she had imagined it... but the song plowed on... she should leave, but she had to make sure his eyes were working...

_You only will I love... and we shall join..._

No... but hadn't he surely just said he was attracted to her? He had, hadn't he?

"Sixteen... fifteen..."

She turned toward him once more. Those curlicues, the fine lines of his face… they had swept her in from the first moment. Even his light, cavalier manner, his taste for mischief, somehow charmed her, stiff person that she was. The imprinting was really only part of the cocktail... 

She realized she was leaning closer.

“Thirteen… twelve…”

There was another pucker…

_Gulp._

He reached up suddenly, found her cheek, gave it a quick pat and a nod as though confirming a suspicion. She supposed he must have felt her breath on his face…

“Nine… eight…”

She didn’t know how to say it… how to tell him…

“Six… five…”

It could all be so simple…

“Three…”

_And he just said... maybe it was true imprinting, maybe it isn't only on my side... Rabbit...  
_

“Two…”

Pucker.

Silence except for the sound of clockwork and bubbling water.

In the first second, he seemed to respond. His lips, interrupted in their countdown, pressed instinctively against hers and time seemed to stop. He made a bemused little noise and she felt him smile. He put a hand on her shoulder as though grasping for support. It was all she could have hoped all these months... doubt and dread melted away...

Then the endless scant second had passed, and as her emotions swelled and she lifted her hand to find his, the countdown still carrying on in his clockwork head had ended and his optics popped open on schedule.

“Mmm…?” came his first response, the sound softly vibrating against her lips, as his steam gently puffed around her cheeks.

Cornelia received a sharp mouthful of the oil-scented steam in the next moment as he shrieked, “Stella!”

She coughed even as he recoiled, sending them both backward. Rabbit, chair and all, hit the floor with a thunderous slam. Cornelia fell hard onto her bottom.

“Rabbit…” she gasped. What had happened?

He twisted to the side, rolling from the now broken chair, and scrambled across the room. He slid, back first, to a standing position against the wall and stared, panting unnecessarily in his alarm, optics opened wide, his whole body rattling violently.

“Y-Y-Y-You… you put yehr lips on me…”

“I… I thought you…” She felt as though she had fallen into a cold lake. What had she done? “Oh... I’m so sorry…” she moaned.

“Stella! Why?”

“Rabbit… I wanted to tell you… since the first day I met you… I’ve felt…” She sighed, still sitting on the floor, wringing her hands and, to her dismay, fighting tears. “Maybe… maybe I misunderstood…”

“Yehr darn right you did!” he cried in a shrill, trembling voice.

“But you…" She looked up, agonized. "You kept asking whether I might consider…”

“Consider what…" He blinked and gasped. "Oh… oh, this is terrible!” he moaned, oily tears starting down his face. “Oh! I wasn't talkin' about _me_ , Stella…”

“No…” she breathed.

He snuffled fitfully. “Now… now…” he hiccupped. “I was tryin' ta help him and now... now he’s gonna hate me…” He rubbed his sleeve across his face.

It all suddenly came through with crystal clarity, or perhaps more like a knife in the chest… the shy glances, the gentle manner, the eager attentions, the unusually distracted behavior. “Rabbit… not The Spine?”

He nodded, his face contorted in misery. "He was too shy to say anything..." he whispered. "Oh, Stella... what have I done?"

This was too much. "Rabbit, it wasn't you..." she said thickly.

He shook his head violently. "Stop it... I never should've said anything... what am I gonna do? I... I gotta go..."

He fled the room at last, sobbing brokenly, without giving her another look.

She sat on the cold cement floor, wishing it would open and swallow her whole. How things had crumbled...

Rabbit didn’t care for her… and if that wasn't excruciating enough, now she knew that The Spine did, the kind, gentle boy who looked so much like a man.

And to make it that much worse, she had kissed Rabbit, a terrible breach of decorum and ethical workplace behavior. Not to mention that Colonel Walter saw Rabbit as his own son… his first “born” son, yet, and still a youth, just eighteen years old. And she, while a youth among her own kind, was hundreds of years old! Even if he _had_ loved her as she had, for one sweet moment, come to believe, her actions would have proven disastrous.

Her career was over, and her love life had never had a chance.

She sank the rest of the way onto the floor, curling onto her side, and wept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My daughter has accused me of enjoying making Rabbit suffer. I say he brings it on himself. ;) He never feels it for long anyway.


	9. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's always the quiet ones.

Cornelia lay, shivering, willing herself to get up. But something in her wouldn’t cooperate. Her long term hopes were crushed, but it was the incomplete fulfillment of her imprinting that crippled her… One touch, one moment of warmth… it hadn’t been enough. She felt weak and sick.

Her throat burned suddenly. She coughed and saw flames.

Uh oh.

She had to get outside. It had been weeks since she had taken her true form and, to her horror, she could feel the unspent energies, built up by the contact with Rabbit, overwhelming her, pouring into her raw instincts, screaming at her to resume her natural form.

_No more stillness, no more waiting. Something needs to happen._

She felt almost cold again at the realization. Didn’t that just figure? The one last thing that would make this moment really awful. The one thing that was all that was missing. Turning into a dragon right there on the lab floor. Perfect.

 She started to prop herself up on her shaking arms, fighting the impulse, when she found out the cosmos had no intention of giving her a moment to breathe. A pounding thud she could feel in the very cement of the floor was coming closer.

_Of course. What was I thinking? This is the one thing that will make this Hell. Because I’ll have to tell him. It’s wrong to let him go on hoping in vain…_

Sure enough, within seconds The Spine pelted into the room, crying, “Cornelia! What’s happened? I just saw Rabbit…”

He stopped short with difficulty, his shoes skidding and squeaking in the effort to slow his weight, and took in the scene. She realized she looked as pathetic as she possibly could, half-reclined on the floor, drenched in tears. He looked at the broken chair, then at her. He twitched slightly and his eyes flickered before he at last resumed motion, scooping her from the floor and placing her in a chair.

Kneeling beside it, he began to examine her for injury, murmuring quietly; soothing, trite phrases he had learned somewhere as being things that injured humans liked to hear. This gentility from someone who had come to feel romantic affections for her… affections that could never be requited… that was the one thing she couldn’t bear right now. She burst into tears.

“Did I hurt you?” he murmured, eyes wide.

She shook her head.

He frowned. “Rabbit,” he said in a tone as heavy as a block of granite. “It was Rabbit…"

“Spine, no! I…” she began, looking at him. She gasped.

His eyes flickered once more and turned red. He rose in one fluid motion.

“He’s gone too far this time,” he said, his voice deep and frightening. He started for the door.

“Spine!”

He didn’t even slow down. He was already out the door. _Why did the Colonel give him such long legs? I have to stop him…_ Cornelia wracked her brain.

“The failsafe!” she hissed. What was it?

Each robot had a code in case of malfunction; a failsafe that would immobilize him until they could correct the problem. She had been obliged to learn them, as a temporary member of the household. The Spine’s had to be changed monthly because Rabbit liked to use it to play pranks on him.

She could hear the heavy, purposeful stride heading toward the bedroom wing. _What was it? Oh, yes!_

“S-silver 119 Rabbit-is-a-big-idiot!” she cried as loudly as she could manage.

The heavy footfalls stopped. She sagged in relief. The Spine had chosen his own failsafe this month, and thankfully it was a memorable one.

Once she caught her breath, a surge of energy reminded her forcefully that she was a dragon. There was a rumbling in her stomach and another tiny flicker of flame came from her lips. She staggered to her feet and out the door.

She ran to where The Spine stood, near the end of the hall, staring straight ahead, eyes green once more, but his expression terrifying. The eyes rolled around to look at her and she flinched. If he had caught up to Rabbit like that… well, she didn’t dare release him now, in case he should continue hunting his brother. But she felt she had to explain, albeit quickly, before fleeing the house.

“Silver 119 voice, facial group failsafe override.” She couldn’t stand the frightening expression any longer. It was so unlike him.

“Cornelia,” he said, still looking down at her with just his eyes, his voice pained and his head and body still immobile. “Let me go.”

“No!”

“He hurt you…” he said desperately.

“It was my fault… Spine…”

“How can you say that? He’s a robot…”

“ _I_ did it, Spine!” She swallowed and forced herself to say something she’d regret for the rest of her life, no matter how much it needed to be said. “I _kissed_ him and he panicked. It wasn’t his fault. It was mine.”

His face… She looked away quickly, having gotten just one glimpse of a man with no heart, who’d just managed to have it broken anyway.

“Why…” he whispered after a long moment, his voice crackling softly. “Why would you kiss Rabbit? No… don’t… you d-don’t have to tell me…”

She forced herself to look at him. Oil was trickling from his eyes. He shut them tightly.

“I’m sorry!” she sobbed. She hoped she could risk freeing him now; she certainly couldn’t stay any longer. “Silver 119 failsafe override…” As his limbs began to move once more, she ran from the hall and out the garden door.

“Cornelia!” he called after her.

She ran flat out, across the lawn and past the duck pond, arriving at last at small wooded area at the back of the property, hoping he wouldn’t follow. She had sometimes come here for peace throughout her stay. It was rough and natural but not particularly beautiful, inspiring no romantic notions to trouble her. And she needed it now.

She managed to get behind the trees and out of her clothing before giving way to the impulse. There was a pinch and a rip as her transformation began… she’d forgotten to remove some of her underthings.

Her body stretched and grew, scales spreading as it did so. She breathed fire into the air, luxuriously, taking care not to catch the trees alight. It was a relief, like stretching after a long time hunched over a book. The twinges and spasms of her expanding form were forgotten in the joy of release from the tiny form of Professor Cornelia Spot. At last she lay on the grass, fully transformed, stretching with relief.

Don’t think about it for now, she told herself. The last thing she needed was to have a panic attack in dragon form. The consequences of the stolen kiss would come whether she brooded about it or not. She’d done it, no question. There was nothing more to be said. So she walked around, appreciating the fluid movements of her natural form.

There was a rustle behind her, a soft hiss.

Oh, no…

 Turning quickly, she looked up, directly into a pair of green eyes.

The Spine stared, open mouthed, at Cornelia. She snapped her jaws shut to prevent a gasp of flame breath that rose in her shock. She’d thought he’d be too angry or hurt to follow…

His eyes widened and he cried, “Pappy!” and turned to run back to the manor.

She sighed and curled into a ball, resigned. One thing after another. What was the point? Let him run back and bring a whole angry mob. If she hadn’t been so fed up, hurt and frustrated, she might have found the sight of The Spine running in childlike terror for his father to be rather cute. As it was, she just looked after him wearily.

But The Spine had stopped beside the tree where her dress was hanging from a branch, staring at it. He looked over his shoulder at her, turning slowly.

“Cornelia?” he murmured.

She waved one claw, hoping that was enough. She wasn’t ready to change back yet.

He walked slowly toward her, hugging himself, his steps hesitant. He looked back and forth along the length of her rust-colored body several times.

“You’re… a dragon…” he said breathlessly. She wondered how a robot could be breathless… she’d seen his schematics and it really didn’t make sense. Possibly an affectation…

“You… you didn’t tell me,” he said, interrupting her rather soothing scientific ponderings. “Did you tell _anyone?_ ”

She nodded.

“D-did you tell Pap… Father?”

She nodded again.

“What about… Rabbit?” he continued, stepping closer. There was a different tone when he asked about Rabbit… where he had seemed concerned that the Colonel might not know even though he should, he seemed more concerned that Rabbit did know when perhaps he should not.

She shook her head. Why was he concerned? Was it Rabbit’s mischief? Or… of course… he was jealous of Rabbit. Even before the day’s revelations, she had suspected he was… for a lot of reasons.

He sank to the ground beside her head and reached out slowly. She held very still as he touched her head. He seemed to need to do it, as though to confirm that she was real. He felt the scales, the horns, the wing-like ear flaps… gently running his fingers along each with a small smile on his face, his usual reserve forgotten in his wonder.

“A real dragon…” he breathed. “I wish you’d told me. You could have. I wouldn’t have been afraid. I’m not afraid… not anymore.” He looked at her wings. “Can you really fly?”

She nodded. He giggled gently. “I wish you could do it now. I know you shouldn’t, we’re in the city. But Cornelia… this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!”

He sat back on the ground and looked at all of her once more. “Oh… Your scales are so beautiful! Did you know?”

 _Sweet boy_ , she thought sadly. _If I had to imprint on anyone, why did it have to be Rabbit_?

But even as she thought of Rabbit, she felt the same mysterious flutter she’d had in human form. She wasn’t sure how much of it was imprinting, really. It didn’t feel involuntary. She wondered what he was doing now… Was he still upset? Was there a chance that he had liked the kiss even a little? It was new to her, too… He had responded, she was sure of it; she had felt the pressure of his lips pressing into hers and the memory of it made her giddy even now. But what was he responding to? Something pushed his lips, so he pushed back? It was comical, really… and just like him.

Cornelia sighed, and a little tongue of flame licked at The Spine’s trouser leg. Oops! But he slapped it out quickly and laughed, suddenly scrambling forward to put his arms around her neck like an affectionate child. Despite her misery, she was bemused. She’d had no idea he was so taken with dragons… and that he was, underneath the proper behavior, so much like The Jon.

“I know it was an accident,” he said, his head resting against her scales. “Do you know you’re wonderful? I… I hope Rabbit… No, wait… tell me, Cornelia… Why was Rabbit startled when you k-k-k-k… kissed him?” He paused, wriggling until he was sitting on the grass against her, with one arm over her neck, his other hand aimlessly stroking her scales, creating pleasant little shivers. “Did he… he didn’t like it, did he? He doesn’t… he doesn’t care for you… does he?”

She turned her head away, knowing it was probably the truth. He was, she realized, just about the best friend she’d ever had. If she’d been able, she happily would have unburdened herself to him, let him help her through this. But there were a few things in the way, things that made it impossible for him to be her confidante… not the least of which was the fact that she couldn’t speak at the moment.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, laying his head against her neck. “I wouldn’t have you hurt for the world, Cornelia. There _are_ people that care for you. I… I care. I wish you’d kissed… someone who cares. I wish you’d kissed someone who… who loves you…”

 _Stop… don’t say it, don’t say any more, you’ll hate yourself…_  She turned her head around to look at him. He was wiping his eyes.

“Then you’d be happy. I really want you to be happy.”

It was too much. He knew what had happened, knew she was a dragon, and still cared… and she had felt so alone. It wasn’t right for him to do this, to ease her pain when he was hurting just as badly and yet… if it made him feel better to show how he felt, this way, then it also made her feel better to have someone care. It was something, now, to cherish before the Colonel found out and her world fell apart. Though it was one kiss, she was sure it was unforgivable… such a terribly inappropriate thing to do to the son of a colleague!

And though this might be perceived as the same, as she was in for a penny, she decided she might as well be in for a pound. She turned her supple neck and put her head in The Spine’s lap. It was the best she could do for a hug.

“Oh!” he cried. “I didn’t mean… well…” He smiled and put his arms around her. “Okay.” He sighed and stroked her head as she closed her eyes, suddenly very weary.

“It’s alright, Cornelia,” he murmured, resting his head against hers. “Sleep. I can sit here as long as you need me.”

_I don’t deserve this…_

She fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write stuff I enjoy reading... so that means I write squashy feels, and weird little plot twists. I'm just letting y'all know now...


	10. Being Sensible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is hurting... Colonel Walter tries to salvage the situation.

 She woke as the sun was setting. The Spine was gently stroking her face. She could hear a faint hiccup in his boiler.

“I wish you’d loved me instead…” he whispered brokenly.

His boiler hiccupped again. Was he crying?

“I understand, though. You don’t love me but I understand. I know how you feel now… oh!” He sagged forward, leaning on her, shuddering. “Why did I want to be human?” he gasped between sobs.

She kept her eyes shut, miserable.

“The Spine!” called a voice. “Spine, where are you? Cornelia’s missing! Only I guess you’re missing too… This is stupid, Hatchy…”

“Jon and Hatchworth!” he gulped, alarmed. He moved frantically. She cracked the eye nearest to his face to see what was going on, and saw him wiping his eyes again. She shut it hastily as he turned toward her once more. She felt him lean forward and felt the strange rubber texture of his lips press against the delicate scales of her cheek. She wondered whether he’d done that while she slept. It made her feel rather warm… which in turn made her feel horribly guilty.

He sighed raggedly. “Cornelia, please wake up,” he murmured.

She opened her eyes slowly, unwilling to reveal how much she had seen… and heard.

“It’s late… they’re looking for us,” he said, his voice low with resignation. “Can you change back?”

She nodded, and waved her head toward the trees where her dress and slip were hanging over the branches. She hoped he didn’t notice the shredded underthings scattered under the trees… Things were awkward enough.

“Oh, of course! I had better go on ahead, then, and tell them you’re on your way.” He struggled stiffly to his feet, joints creaking from too much time in one position. “Hurry!” He strode back toward the house, calling to The Jon to stop yelling.

Hurry… Now the full memory of what had happened came back… It had been there all along, of course, but she had managed to think of what was happening now, and not what was coming.

 She crept behind the trees and transformed, hastily putting on her slip and dress. They were a little short. She concentrated and shrank a couple of inches. Perfect. She took a moment to bundle her shredded lingerie and tuck it under one arm before she stepped into her slippers and walked unhappily back to the house.

To her surprise, Colonel Walter strolled across the lawn and greeted her warmly. “Fine evening for a walk.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said…”

“I know…” she interrupted. “Excuse me… yes, I heard you, but…” Had Rabbit not told him?

“Are you alright, Cornelia? Did you run into some trouble on your walk?”

“How do you mean?”

“Your hair is a bit disheveled. And there’s a twig…” He plucked it from her hair, smiling. “See?”

She couldn’t stand it. “Sir, if I could speak with you privately?”

“Can we meet after supper? I’m famished.”

Supper… “Oh, sir, I don’t think I’m very hungry… I can meet after supper of course…”

“Oh, but the boys said you and The Spine were out here _all afternoon_ ,” he returned with a wink. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”

She felt ill. She could not get the measure of this man. Was he implying that she’d been having a romantic rendezvous with The Spine? “I just don’t know if I can take the company,” she murmured.

“It’s alright. Rabbit’s already in stasis.”

“He is?”

“He said he was tired when we called him for dinner.”

“Tired?”

“Odd, isn’t it? I’ll have him come in for maintenance tomorrow.”

“Oh…”

“So… is everything acceptable for supper, then?”

“What?” she said abruptly. “No, truly, I would rather rest until later.”

“Would you like us to send something up?”

She couldn’t eat a thing. But it would appease the hospitable Colonel to agree. “That would be most appreciated. Thank you.”

“Not at all, m’dear.” He clapped her on the shoulder gently. “You’ve really become one of the family, you know. We’ll miss you at the table.”

She fought tears. “Please… I’ll see you after supper. In your office, if that would be convenient.”

“I do hope it’s nothing serious…”

“It’s… well, we’ll talk about it later.”

“See you then.”

 

An hour later, she sat in his office, trying to find the right words.

“Sir, I wonder if you know anything about imprinting?”

“I don’t assume you’re referring to anything involving ink,” he said, leaning back in his chair and groaning softly. “Oh, I shouldn’t have had that last roll…”

“Colonel, please!” she cried, her voice breaking.

His eyes widened. “Cornelia, my dear, what is it? I apologize if I am distracted… It was a rather tedious meeting today, with troubling implications. The European situation, mind you.”

“I realize that, sir… I mean, I realize things are troubled in the world, I know I shouldn’t burden you further, but I am once again unsure as to whether I can carry on living here.”

That got his attention. “I had thought it was going so well. We’re on the brink of a breakthrough… a literal breakthrough, Cornelia. Your way home!”

“I realize that. I do not suggest we discontinue our work. But a certain situation has arisen between me and one of your sons…”

He smiled. “Yes, I had a certain suspicion about the two of you.”

She was sure he hadn’t. Not remotely. At least, it wasn’t at all what he thought… “If you mean The Spine, sir…”

“I realize it’s awkward, but he is so determined to experience human life, and I suspect I can trust you to realize the limitations he faces in it. And with the longevity of your kind, perhaps if it were to be rather more than a passing fancy, well, I would not be as concerned for his future as I would had he become enamored of a human woman… ah, but I am being less than genteel. I apologize. Suffice it to say that he could do far worse than to form an attachment to a woman of your intelligence and quality.” He nodded to her with respect.

Cornelia listened to his words, her mind utterly blank. _Has the world gone mad or is it me?_

“But I assume…” He paused, looking at her searchingly. “Oh, dear. Could it be that you don’t return his feelings, Cornelia?” he asked worriedly.

“I…” she faltered. “I do care for him, to be sure…” She did. But it wasn’t the same.

“Well, then,” he said, beaming.

“Sir,” she said, barely above a whisper, forcing herself to say it. “It’s Rabbit.”

He looked around, then back at her. “Oh! You didn’t mean here… no. Rabbit again? He’s kept his distance, hasn’t he?”

“Not far enough… Colonel, I… I _kissed_ him.”

“Hm?”

“I kissed Rabbit.”

“You _kissed_ …” He stopped, staring at the far wall.

“Rabbit,” she groaned.

“You kissed _Rabbit_ ,” he echoed blankly.

 _“I kissed Rabbit, Colonel!"_ she cried, louder than she had intended.

He still did not appear to be taking it in. “On the… on…”

“On the lips…”

He blinked as if emerging from a trance and looked at her. “Well, that’s dashed odd, Cornelia! Whatever did you do such a thing for?”

 _Why?_ “I tried to tell you earlier... well, I said there was a problem... this was it,” she murmured wearily. “It’s a biological phenomenon of my people. We imprint upon our future mates. It’s usually a mutual reaction, much like falling in love. But it only happens once. We mate for life.”

“Fascinating! But what does this have to do with Rabbit… Great merciful saints preserve us and all who… Are you suggesting that you and Rabbit…?”

“No!” she sobbed wearily. “Not me _and_ Rabbit! I am suggesting that sometimes Nature does us a cruel turn and sends terrible things our way. Rabbit himself is unaffected. Only I have imprinted. He’s not a dragon. I am.”

“But… does he care for you? Does he have feelings for you?” he asked, astonished.

“No. He was horribly frightened by it… He recoiled when he realized…” She stopped, utterly miserable. _He recoiled._

The Colonel snorted and she looked up in shock. He saw her face and his amusement evaporated, becoming a look of remorse.

“I’m sorry, my dear, oh, so terribly sorry, please! But Rabbit… I wish I had seen his face… I have never seen him afraid, not since the war…” He cleared his throat and fell silent, sighing. “No, I suppose it’s not funny in the least. Please forgive me. I can see that you’re hurting very deeply…”

She nodded, gulping back tears and steadying her voice. “So… you see that it is impossible. From what I understand of the phenomenon, it would be necessary for me to touch Rabbit, to be close to him, for some time before the feeling settles into a stable pattern. So it really would be better if I left…”

“Touch?” he interrupted, frowning. “In what way?”

“I… don’t know. It’s a courtship rite, preceding a betrothal. You really aren’t told much until you need it, and I wasn’t interested in hearing much. I only know that a great deal of it is instinct and that you are largely supposed to just know what to do. I know it sounds preposterous and chaotic… that’s very much the dragon’s way…”

“The have you felt any indication of what this imprinting wants you to do?” he continued warily.

“I’ve felt drawn to him… that’s all. I kissed him because that is a human action. It was the touch I craved.”

“How long?”

“Since my second day here… when I told you there was a problem.”

He gasped. “And you’ve been enduring that all these months?” he cried.

She sighed. “Yes. I couldn’t let it threaten our research.”

“Ye gods,” he breathed.

“I was getting by quite well until he came in needing his eyes recalibrated. I had managed to never be alone with him. But then… I misunderstood something he told me about The Spine. I thought he was telling me he was the one interested in me, instead of his brother. And I kissed him.”

“And he panicked. So that’s what happened to the chair… Poor lad. And poor Cornelia.” He shook his head. “What are the consequences? Can it be undone?”

She shook her head.

“Is that what science has told you, or tradition? Well, nothing for it but to trust, we can't very well solve it with only one case to study. But there’s still more mystery here. What could have caused you to imprint upon an automaton? That’s a biological response…”

“I speculate that it may be because of his copper content.” _And because he’s ravishing, charming, sweet, playful…_ She forced her mind away from that line of thinking… it was getting rather warm. She took a deep breath. “Our scales contain metal. Mine have a large amount of copper.”

“You _really_ must let me see your full form someday! Well, then. Ah… I know this will sound peculiar, but suppose we get you what you need… this closeness…”

What? “Colonel?”

He frowned and held up his hands. “Nothing would be taking place other than being close to one another, would it? When you say ‘mate for life’ it doesn’t necessarily mean…”

“No indeed!” she gasped, shocked. “That’s purely voluntary! Only the bond is involuntary… requiring certain actions in order to quiet the…” She stopped, blinking at him. “Sir, surely you aren’t considering…”

“It’s the physical contact, correct? Just that? You sit rather close together or hold hands, possibly? Something simple, rather than lengthy bouts of kissing?”

“Sir!” she gasped.

“I apologize if I am obliged to be coarse. This is serious, I assure you. So, would that do, do you think?”

All the impulses so far had sent her visions of touching with every available inch of skin she had, but she decided not to share that. But would what he suggested be enough?

“I think so…” she murmured uncomfortably. How desperate was this man to continue his research? She suddenly just wanted to run out of the room, out of the house, and never look back. “I think it might be more effective if he was near me in my dragon form, however. The only copper I have exposed right now is in my hair and nails... assuming that’s the connection.”

He blinked at her hands. “Is that what that is? I thought you liked to stain them. I didn’t want to judge… Well, then. I don't know that we can accommodate the dragon form, but just in case, it’s time that the household learned your secret. If we’re going to get Rabbit to do this, we’ll be hard put to keep it quiet.”

“Colonel! Think about what you’re suggesting! Rabbit fled in a panic when it happened! He’s hiding in his room even now because of it. The Spine, Heaven help him, has formed an attachment to me... and though already knows about my feelings for Rabbit and that I am a dragon, well, what strain would it put on him to see me working in such close physical proximity to the brother who...” She stopped. She couldn't finish the thought. If she had, she would have gone on to add that he was the brother who was so charming, playful and friendly, who was so naturally human without even trying, and who now had the affections of The Spine's first love... even in this, Rabbit had everything his brother craved, short of a flesh body.

Colonel Walter leaned away a little, absorbing her words. “Poor boy,” he murmured, sadly. “What a thing to happen the first time it hit him really hard… runs in the family,” he added in a mumble. “But he seemed fine when he came in, even happy…”

“He’s like that, though, isn’t he? He doesn’t like to burden others.”

He nodded. “Quite so. Was that what really kept the two of you? I don’t say that I thought you two were necking out there… although I did consider the possibility…”

“Colonel!”

“Calm yourself, please! I hope I am in some small way showing to you that I value your expertise and trust your good judgment, even in the face of the primal impulse that burdens you. If you and The Spine had been... trysting, then you would have had my blessing. I meant what I said earlier. You really are like one of the family, m'dear.”

She sagged. “Thank you…” _I think._

“Good. I have, in short, entrusted the well-being of two of my dear sons to you, even if they are not destined to come out of this unscathed. Now, I will deal with Rabbit…”

“I should at least apologize to him…”

“If you like. I’m not sure how distressed he is, so I would like to speak to him first. We will arrange for you to get a certain amount of time daily together, supervised.”

She didn’t see this ending well. “Can’t we just take an office in town and I’ll go live in a boarding house? Must we rush the work so much that we take actions that are as peculiar as they are dangerous?”

He sighed. “Cornelia, there’s the trouble. There are other dangers at hand. Even though they in the Cavalcadium speak of peace and cooperation in Europe, it is rumored that Germany is preparing for war. Well, many of the nations are, really… but Germany stands out among them even so. Do you realize the implications for you if war should break out? You may not actually be German, but you sound German and many in the Cavalcadium believe you to be so. If you lived on your own at such a time, while you may not be in danger of physical harm considering your true nature, you would certainly be at risk. I truly think the first priority is to get you well away from here before anything happens… but failing that, I want you to stay at Walter Manor. You’ll be safe here; no one will treat you as an enemy. Do you understand that this must be?”

She sighed, defeated. “I understand that you believe so. And… I am willing to defer to your judgment. I am tired.”

“Of course. Please get some rest. I’ll tell you tomorrow how we will address the problem. And I will also speak to The Spine, explain to him that this is necessary in order to get you to safety.”

She frowned. "Using his feelings and his better nature against him," she scolded.

"Appealing to his better nature, yes. Allowing him the respect owed to a human being, and the opportunity to know that if he endures suffering, he does it of his own free will for something even more important than his own passions. Do you not think he would want that? For all others scoff, these robots are my sons. And The Spine, I feel, is the closest to becoming a man in every way available to him. A man makes his own choices. I don't feel joy in his suffering, but I do feel strangely exultant to see how he has grown. And I hope Rabbit has, under all of his monkeyshines, the same grit. Will you accept our help if the boys are willing to give it? Nothing I do can cure your broken hearts. I can only promise they do heal. So let's just do what we can, hm?"

She had let the tears flow freely, silently, as he spoke. She nodded and sighed. “Fine.”

This hadn’t gone the way she had anticipated at all. She rose, wondering how he intended to execute this bitterly uncomfortable arrangement, picturing several possible ways of being near Rabbit. Angrily crushing the swelling of guilty joy at the thought of being near Rabbit with the mental image of his stricken and reluctant face, Cornelia trudged from the office toward her room.


	11. Reminder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia is reminded that she can't handle this one by herself.

She hurried past the set of rooms inhabited by the robots on her way upstairs, but couldn’t help hearing the tick and bubble of Rabbit’s works and stopped. His machinery was relatively quiet when he was in stasis. But at the moment, he was running at full volume.

The Colonel had wanted to speak to him first, but she knew she would get no rest until she at least tried to make it right. The Song seemed quiet at the moment, held down by a feeling of deep depression. Cornelia felt sure she could manage a conversation. She would deal with Walter in the morning. She rapped at the door.

“Go away. I’m t-t-tired.”

She rapped again, afraid of revealing who she was in case he should refuse to open the door.

She heard the thud of heavy feet and the door jerked open. “I told ya… eep!” Sure enough, he slammed his door shut.

There was a crunch from the door frame and muffled swearing on the other side of it. She thought she caught the words, “Not again!”

“Rabbit?” she murmured uneasily.

The door trembled; he was trying to open it. “Go away, Stella! I don’t want any more kisses. One was enough, thanks.”

“I’m not here to kiss you, Rabbit.” Would that I was! “I came to apologize.”

The door opened a crack with a pop and the splintering of wood. It was gently pushed to. “Apology accepted. Goodnight.”

“Can’t you bear to speak to me for just a moment? I want to explain.”

“Explain what?”

“Why I did it, Rabbit.”

The door slowly opened and Rabbit peered out at her, frowning. “There any chance ya just went crazy for a few minutes, and y-y-yehr all better now?”

“In a way…”

“Not good enough.” He started to slam the door, stopping a scant inch before hitting the damaged doorway. “Goodnight!” he said loudly, pushing it gently into place against the splintered frame.

“I’m sorry, Rabbit,” she said through the crack. “I know you don’t want to hear it. I didn’t do it on purpose, I promise…”

The door opened wide, revealing Rabbit’s astonished, slightly smeary face. “I was sittin’ there with my eyes shut. Ya put your lips right on my lips when I wasn’t lookin’. Are you tellin’ me someone came in real quiet and pushed yehr head down into my face?”

_You didn't seem to mind... not at first, anyway._ “No… I didn’t mean… I never meant to feel… what I feel. It’s biological.”

“So I hear.”

That sounded ominous, especially considering the leer that accompanied it. “I guess this was a mistake. Your father said he wanted to speak to you first.”

_“You told Pappy?”_ he squeaked, his hand clutching nervously at his shirt and tearing four long holes in the fabric. He didn’t seem to notice. “Stella, how _could_ you?”

“Rabbit, he isn’t angry with you…” she cried in a trembling voice. “He knows it was all my fault. I told him you weren't expecting it, that you were scared...”

"Wasn't scared," he muttered petulantly.

"Upset, then. He understands. It's alright."

Rabbit looked at her for a long moment. “Th-thank you,” he murmured. “You’re… you’re pretty upset yourself…”

She nodded, looking at the floor. “It’s all such a mess, Rabbit," she said in a trembling voice. "It was never supposed to happen this way. I was supposed to be a scientist, find the key to traveling to Kazooland, meet a nice dragon maybe later on, when I got a bit older, maybe another hundred years…”

“Stop the horse, he’s drunk…”

She looked up suddenly. Rabbit was staring at her, fingers rolling over and over in the air distractedly. “What?”

“Find the what to where and meet who when?” he said with a twitch.

Oh, dear. She was making it worse. “I think I’d better stop…”

“What? No! You can’t tell me something like that and let me wonder about it until Pappy comes to explain it. He might take a whole hour!”

A whole hour? "I'm sure you'll survive..."

"But that's forever!"

“How are you going to be able to stand living the long life of a robot, Rabbit?”

“Huh?”

“He’ll be along soon,” she murmured. She knew it was time to get to her room; now, while the Song was still suppressed by a layer of gloomy thoughts.

“But Stella…" he whined. " _Dragons?_ What about dragons?” he begged, hopping slightly in his eagerness.

_That’s adorable…_ Whoops. That wasn’t good. She started to move away from him.

“Rabbit, I really should get some sleep,” she lied.

“Aww, come on, just tell me a little or I’ll go crazy!” he replied excitedly, catching her hand. “You’ve seen dragons? And there’s a place called Kazoo Land? Does everyone play kazoos all the time?”

She felt her hand tingling at his touch. It spread across her skin. “Stop…” she breathed even as the Song began to fill her thoughts.

They heard The Spine’s voice down the hall. Rabbit looked up sharply and hastily pulled her into his room, shutting the door as quickly as he dared. The voices, The Spine’s and others, were approaching. Rabbit stood against the door, listening, still holding Cornelia by the hand, oblivious to the struggle going on beside him.

She wanted to pull her hand away. And she just couldn’t. They were alone... he was so close… She felt her breathing speeding up to match the ticking of his clockwork. Her hair stood on end. Her free hand came up to close around his.

At the same time, she was furious with herself. She should never have come to talk to him. And if the others were retiring, would the Colonel be on his way here? How would he react to this?

_Tick… tick… tick… bubble…_ Her heart was pounding. She concentrated on breathing slowly and carefully, waiting. Her fingers curled tightly around Rabbit’s. He didn’t seem to notice, squeezing reflexively in response, similar to his reaction to the kiss. She supposed he must have been programmed to respond to certain stimuli...

"Rabbit," she hissed, her vision swimming as she resisted. To her immense frustration, he put a finger to his lips absent-mindedly, still listening. She forced her hands to relax.

The voices passed and faded at last before Rabbit turned back to her. His eyes widened.

“That’s amazing! Can you teach me how to do that?”

“What?”

“Your eyes! They’re all glowy and orange! I just got blue and green…” He glanced down at last, noticing that she was holding his hand in both of hers. "Don't be scared, it was just The Spine and Two."

She pulled one hand from his and put it weakly against the wall. The hard surface felt icy cold.

“Are you feelin’ alright?” Rabbit asked worriedly, letting go of her other hand.

“Can you… please…  just let me out?” she gasped, feeling like she’d just run a race. She curled her freed hand against her stomach.

“But…”

“Let me out,” she said, but it sounded almost like a snarl mingled with a hiss. There was a thin tendril of smoke rising from where her hand touched the wall.

“Oh! Sorry!” he cried suddenly, jerking the door open. "How did you..."

She ran out, not stopping until she reached her room, touching only the doorknob as she went in, and hastily filled the washbasin. She sank her face into the water quickly and came up gasping. Tearing off her dress for the second time that day, she rubbed the water over her skin. It hissed as it touched her, but it worked; her skin slowly cooled.

Cornelia sat at last, wearing only her sodden slip, her face in her hands. What would have happened? She should have had better sense than to take such a risk so soon after having taken dragon form. She hoped Rabbit had the sense to put out the smoldering wall. 

“Colonel Walter, I hope you know what you’re letting us in for,” she murmured.

 

Once she had cleaned up the water, washed, and dressed for bed, there was a polite knock at the door. She slipped into her dressing gown and opened the door cautiously.

"Colonel Walter?" she said, surprised.

"I've spoken to Rabbit and the others. I just wanted to let you know. And to remind you, from now on, that all contact with Rabbit is to be supervised."

She opened her mouth to agree that of course it would be, and hesitated. He was looking at her with one eyebrow raised, an oddly ominous face combined with his polite smile. The expression reminded her of one The Spine had fixed on Rabbit more than once.

"I'm very sorry, Colonel," she murmured, flushing. "I could tell he was awake and I thought if I apologized it might ease his mind... I should have respected your wishes."

"Indeed... it seems as if we had rather a close shave."

_I did..._ "Shall we say that it was enough to persuade me not to trust too much to my own powers of resistance?" she responded, eyes cast down, unwilling to meet his.

He chuckled gently. "Now, don't be so downhearted. The wall didn't smolder long. In fact, Rabbit seems very tickled with the handprint now that he knows you're a dragon."

"Ah. Good. Um, Colonel? How did he react to the news? That I'm a dragon?"

"Oh, well, he was shocked. Then he accused me of playing a joke on him. Then his eyes brightened so much I couldn't look at him directly and he said that explained it." He laughed. "That was actually how I found out you'd been there."

"You didn't notice the door..."

"Oh, the boys are always cracking the door jambs. The Spine has finally gotten so that he hardly does any damage except when he's upset, but the others... well, Hatchworth will walk right through if he's thinking about something. We daren't let him out in the street... Oh, by the way, Rabbit will be joining us tomorrow in the lab, just after lunch. We'll start with half hour intervals."

"Of what, exactly?" she asked with apprehension.

"Just sitting. No sense going overboard in the first week. Rabbit is curious, and a little nervous. I don't know whether that's because you're a dragon or a woman. I suppose either way... Well, I won't keep you up any longer; you've had a trying day."

"Thank you. I... Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She closed the door and waited. When she heard his door shut in the distance, she slipped from her room and hurried downstairs. She wasn't sleepy in the least Not only had she taken a long nap (in The Spine's arms, she remembered with a curious shiver) but her nerves were positively sparking in anticipation of what tomorrow would bring.

It was The Jon's turn to read to Hatchworth, she knew, and right now spending time with the two childlike younger Walter automatons sounded absolutely perfect. The Jon never failed to give her a satisfyingly crushing hug. He knew, she was sure, that Cornelia was not as fragile as the humans around them and acted accordingly.

And Hatchworth had clearly decided she was his big sister, for all she was so much littler. He tended to wriggle under her arm like a puppy until she allow him to rest on her lap while he heard his stories. The permanent bowler hat and stovepipe were awkward, but fortunately she was resistant to the heat of the rising steam.

As engrossed as she was in these pleasant musings, she couldn't help hearing, as she passed by his door, that Rabbit was still wide awake, too.


	12. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Storytime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though it interrupts the primary action, I wanted to have a little time with the other brothers. This is more of a drabble.

"Once upon a time, there was a fish named Esmerelda Stickydoo. She wore perfume made of old tree bark to hide her fishy smell, but everyone said..."

"You told me that one last night. It still does not make any sense. And you are holding the book upside down again. I think that is why you read the same story again."

Cornelia sat and listened to their story time with a smile, not wanting to interrupt.

"Maybe Stella knows one," Jon said.

Of course he knew she was there, she thought. She opened her mouth to respond.

"Oh, no, she does not!" Hatchworth cried. "She only knows one story, and it is about horror, mayhem and despair!"

"She knows more. She just doesn't know they are stories."

She pushed the wood slat aside and crawled into the box. "Whatever do you mean? I don't... do not know many stories!"

"Not fairy tales or legends. Just stories. About your friends."

She sighed. "I never really had friends."

"You had one."

She stared. Was anything private, anything secret, with this strange golden automaton?

He beamed. "No. Tell us about the old dragon."

"The old dragon..." Had Colonel Walter spoken to them yet?

"It's alright. I told Hatchy all about you being a dragon."

"Jon... you're beyond the power of science to explain."

"I know. Pappy can't even do it, and he made me."

"Well... He lived in the village. We don't have villages like you do here, made of wood and things that can burn. We live in caves or earth structures. Sometimes we build large, spacious brick buildings that accomodate both dragon and human forms. I grew up in one such building. We were very wealthy. I suppose we still are..."

She sighed. The Jon scooted closer and put his arm around her. She found it rather startling. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had an embrace that carried no additional burden... at least, none before she'd met The Jon. She settled into his arm, appreciating the warm of simple affection. He rested his head against hers.

"Sometimes love isn't complicated, Stella. I know the people who were supposed to love you didn't love you enough, and the one you love the best doesn't understand. But he will."

She sighed. "Jon, you maybe clairvoyant, but precognition is not your strength."

He giggled and said nothing.

"Can we get on with the dragon stories? Some of us have to work in the morning."

"Sorry, Hatchworth. Well, when I was a whelp..."

Hatchworth snorted with laughter.

"Shush, that is what we call them. I was a curious youngster, always getting into scrapes and wandering down interesting paths that led to dangerous places. And one day I wandered down the hardest, rockiest path, because I could tell it had once been well used and I wanted to know what had once been so popular and was now abandoned.

"And the old dragon got me."

Hatchworth gasped. "Did he kill you?" The Jon giggled merrily.

"Of course not! I lived to tell the tale. No, he stopped me and asked me why I was trespassing on his land. I told him that I wanted to know what was there. And after he had questioned me for some time, he concluded I was no mere nosy youngster but a child of a curious mind. And we became friends. I would slip away whenever I could to see what he was making or doing at the time, and help when I could. He was a scientist! I was, too, though it was not considered proper for a female to engage in intellectual pursuits too aggressively. Of course, we are educated, as a rule. The idea of ignorant wives is abhorrant to any male of character. But too much study is considered harmful, damaging to the mind and body." She rolled her eyes. "After all, look what it did to me," she added with a half smile.

"It is okay, you are not too far gone," Hatchworth said comfortingly. Jon roared with laughter and squeezed her shoulders.

"She's beautiful, Hatchy," he corrected. "What happened to the old dragon, Stella?"

"He died. That's... that is what happens. We don't often die... I mean, not many of us die of old age. We have long lives and violent ways. Things have grown more civilized over time, but not much more. I am lucky, really, that they did, though. there was a time that my pursuit of science would have given my father free reign to end my life." She shook her head.

"He tried anyway," The Jon murmured sympathetically.

She nodded. "After that, I went to live with the old dragon. It was only fifty-four years later that he died. To us, that isn't... is not very long."

Hatchworth reached over and patted her hand. "That is very sad for you, Stella."

She smiled. Now only one of the brothers called her Cornelia. 

"It was after he died that I found his research. He believed that it was possible to open a portal to a strange, distant dimension. He claimed to have had contact with a planet called 'Earth.'"

"Oh! I know that place!" cried Hatchworth. "What a coincidence!"

Jon leaned back and laughed until the fort shook. "I love telling stories to Hatchy!" he crowed, his face contorted with glee.

"Jon likes me best," Hatchworth said pleasantly, clearly oblivious to the joke.

Cornelia settled into the bundle of blankets behind her, leaning back and resting her head against Jon's surprisingly soft shoulder. She had made the right choice coming here.

"Are you tired yet, Hatchy?" asked The Jon.

Hatchworth nodded and his head dropped, the same as always. Jon giggled and sighed.

"That was fun. What about you, Stella?"

"Not tired yet. Can we stay a little while longer?"

"Uh-huh."

They talked quietly for a little while, about dragons and strange creatures and places Jon shouldn't have known about but most certainly did. 

"Stella?" he breathed after a long pause.

"Hm?"

"We all love you, y'know."

"Why, Jon? I've caused so much trouble..."

"Rabbit causes trouble. The Spine does too sometimes. Do you still love them?"

"Them?" What did he mean? Why both of them?

"I know you love all of us, but... Never mind. I guess you're not quite ready. I think I'm getting tired-d-d-d."

"I think you're right..."

"I know. I'm-m really sm-m-mart-t..." 

She twisted to look at him. His eyes flickered.

"N-n-n-n..."

"Goodnight, Jon."

His head lolled gently onto hers. He falls asleep, she realized. The others shut down, but he falls asleep.

She gently wriggled free of his arm, clambered out of the fort, and turned out the light.


	13. Science?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to work out the right dosage of sweet lovin'. Just kidding. Trying to figure out how much time sitting next to Rabbit is enough. And trying to keep The Spine from tearing Rabbit apart.

There followed a period of trial and error. Colonel Walter had indeed sat Rabbit down like the teenager he was and had a talk with him. The next time she saw the copper automaton, he was noticeably more giggly. She wasn’t sure whether this was because he was flattered, or because of some sort of robotic bemusement with the biological functions of organic beings, or possibly because she was a dragon. He certainly had been excited about that, much like his younger brother. She supposed their fondness for fairy tales made them, much like human children, fascinated with mythical creatures… or creatures they thought were mythical.

The Spine also had received a priming, figuratively speaking. Instead of seeming petulant or heartsick when she saw him next, he was enthusiastic, bright, and eager. She didn’t know what his father had told him, or whether he was excited at having been the first to see her as a dragon. He just seemed protective of her, careful to watch her during the times when she was with Rabbit, bringing her cool water before she even knew she needed it.

The only times when The Spine seemed less than controlled, when she could see the strain, were those times when Rabbit came into the lab to sit near her for a little while in hopes that her strange parasitic condition, as the Colonel called it, would stabilize. He said his theory was that she had developed a dependency for the proximity of certain elements that Rabbit contained, and thus if she could receive the correct amount, she would be able to function normally. He even spoke of the possibility or weaning her gradually from them;  effectively curing her of the imprinting. She understood, as a scientist. As herself, however, she feared the repercussions of such risky science, and yet could not find it in herself to raise any further protests.

For a few precious minutes a day, she would be allowed to be close to Rabbit. She didn’t even have to pretend or resist, just be near him. Even if it wasn’t in the way she would have liked, she could not deny that there was some merit to Walter’s assessment… touch was key. And Rabbit had always had a way of making even innocent gestures seem suggestive… which likely explained the looks that passed between the brothers when Rabbit walked in each day and settled beside her.

The Spine seemed to have only one look for Rabbit, something in a glare of warning. Rabbit tended to stick out his tongue. And she couldn’t really blame them for it… the whole thing was wretchedly awkward.

The first day, they merely sat together, side by side. Cornelia, with some effort, continued writing down notes on the day’s research. Before long, however, she heard a soft, “Oh!” of surprise and looked up to realize she was right up against Rabbit instead of just being near him. He smiled nervously.

“Hey, Stella... I didn’t even see ya move…” he faltered.

She blinked. “I don’t remember moving…” She glanced at Colonel Walter, who was mixing chemicals deeper in the lab, and then looked up at The Spine. He was peering at them with one eye, over his book. He was reading Pygmalion. It wouldn’t be the last time his choice of books seemed oddly fitting.

“I’m sorry,” she told Rabbit, turning back to him.

“No, it’s okay. Pappy said you need this in order to stay. So you can keep working. He said you need to sit by me.”

“Yes… I do. Are you bored?”

“A little…”

“Ten more minutes and then you can go, Rabbit,” The Spine muttered.

“Okay.”

He fidgeted, lifting his arm and moving it this way and that, finally flopping it on the bench behind him with a steamy sigh.

She looked up once more, heart thumping as it had been since he first joined her, wondering how much longer they had but unwilling to ask. “Are you comfortable?”

“Well, I’m a robot, so…”

“Your arm looks awkward back there…”

“I don’t have anywhere else to put it. You’re kinda in front of me…”

“I am?” She realized her shoulder had worked its way over to his chest, where she had come to rest in something like a snuggle.

“I could put my arm around ya, I guess. Is that okay?” he asked matter-of-factly, lifting his arm over her back.

There was the sound of a book being slammed shut. “Time’s up!” barked The Spine.

“What?” said the Colonel, walking toward them. “There’s five more minutes. We need to stick to the pre-designated times until we’ve worked out how long is sufficient the meet the biological impulse!”

“Father, he… he was going to…” The Spine looked down. His lower lip was sticking out slightly. Cornelia, as uncomfortable as she was, had to suppress a smile.

“I’ll sit with them for the rest of the time, Spine. You go cool off.”

The Spine left without a word, slamming the door behind him.

“Well, so far so good,” he said, settling into the vacated chair and raising an eyebrow at the book. “You haven’t kissed Rabbit, and The Spine hasn’t torn his arms off.”

Cornelia fixed him with as stern and cold of a glare as she could manage with a flushed face.

“Aw, Pappy…” Rabbit sulked. “Why’d ya let The Spine sit with us anyhow?”

“Sorry. He needs to feel he’s helping. It’s best this way. Why are you holding your arm in the air? Put it down; you’re making me uneasy.”

Rabbit settled his arm behind Cornelia, just barely touching, his hand resting on the bench. She shivered and he moved it away. The Colonel cleared his throat and Rabbit shifted, resting it against her back firmly. She felt like someone had poured warm bathwater down her collar.

Rabbit sighed. “This is weird, Pappy.”

“I know.”

Cornelia shrugged, reluctant to admit how much she was enjoying it.

The five minutes passed and Rabbit almost leaped up from his seat, tipped a hat he wasn’t wearing, and ran outside yelling for The Jon.

“This is mad,” she sighed, wishing he hadn’t gone.

“Never mind that,” replied Colonel Walter. “Record your responses before you forget!”

If she hadn’t been a scientist herself, she might have been rather put out.

 

They repeated the seating arrangement, and half hour sitting time, for the rest of the week. The Spine sat with a new book each day… Sons and Lovers, The Lady with the Little Dog, Cyrano de Bergerac, An Ideal Husband. She wasn’t sure what he was getting at and decided not to think about it.

On Saturdays, to the collective delight of the robots, it was agreed that she should spend several hours in her natural form. A special fence was set up with a small dressing cabana just like the ones at the beach, so that she could change and transform in privacy before anyone joined her.

For there was no stopping them from doing just that! Once the news had spread throughout the household, every down to the kitchen staff was eager to witness Cornelia’s dragon form. The Colonel allowed each to come in and meet her, rather than gawk, and then did his best to banish everyone except Rabbit; unsuccessfully, as his robot brothers were unwilling to leave.

She didn’t mind, really. Given Rabbit’s feelings on the matter, the "honeymoon" feeling surrounding the Colonel’s attempts to isolate them just seemed laughable. And while she was a dragon and his brothers were there as well, Rabbit happily shed his bandana, rolled up his sleeves, and flopped against her mauve-copper scales right next to the other three, with no apparent memory of why everyone (except possibly The Spine) wanted him to do just that. The Jon had told him they were almost the same color and Rabbit spent a good half hour with his hands pressed against her scales, trying to get them to catch the light just the same way.

And when she had changed back and dressed, Rabbit was so delighted with his day that he swept her up in a hug of his own accord… after which each of the others demanded a hug, too. The most amazing was The Spine… to the general amusement of the household, he slipped into the same state of childlike glee, every Saturday, that he had the first day he had seen her dragon form. So when his brothers demanded hugs, his voice rose with the others… a little softer, perhaps, and with a shy look, but far more than anyone would have believed had they not seen it for themselves.

And he always wanted the last hug, the hug that lingered as the others began to head back to the house. Cornelia suspected he might just need it as much as she needed her time with Rabbit, and allowed to hold on just as long as his dignified nature would allow. It seemed to her that it was longer every Saturday.

And it was nice. It was very nice. She supposed it was just as well that she’d never realized, in her long hours of science and solitude, how lovely hugs could be... she would have felt a lot lonelier. And, she realized, when the time came to leave, that's just how she would feel, even if she was cured of her imprinting.

 

It had been a month since the touch experiments began. Rabbit had taken to sitting with one arm around her waist and The Spine had stopped sending messages with his books and was quietly reading Ivanhoe. Cornelia had found that her throbbing ache for Rabbit had gentled, become contentment. When that happened, when she seemed to have hit the right level of contact, the Colonel began to shorten the times they sat, just a minute less each day, until they didn't do it at all, to see whether she could be acclimated to being without. Since they had gotten up to about an hour, this would take a couple of months... Something she had mixed feelings about. She realized she really liked having a strong feeling for a change, instead the dull life of research with only bursts of curiosity to make her feel more alive. But with increasing tension in the lab, she wondered if they'd manage to get through the next two months...

The first big fight came when they were down to fifty minutes. She was working out a tricky bit of formula when Rabbit leaned down and rested his head on her shoulder.

“Ya forgot to carry the one,” he murmured, close to her ear.

She squeaked softly. The Spine peered at Rabbit, who leaned slowly back as if to show he didn’t actually have to if he didn’t want to.

“Fifteen minutes, Rabbit.”

“I’m clockwork, thanks awfully. I know the time.”

The Spine rolled his eyes and Rabbit made a face. A few more minutes passed in silence. Rabbit leaned toward her once more.

“What’re you doing?” he whispered.

“This is the formula to determine how much Blue Matter vapor per cubic inch will be enough to activate… Did you really want to know?”

“Nuh-uh,” he said mischievously.

“Rabbit…”

He kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Sorry.” He leaned back.

She put her hand over the spot where his lips had touched. He leaned forward again. “Did I kiss ya too hard?”

“No… that was nice.”

“Great! Can I do that sometimes?”

“I think that would be alright,” she said as calmly as she could.

She noticed movement and caught The Spine staring straight at them, eyes wide.

“ _Ten_ minutes, Rabbit,” he said tightly.

“What did I say? Clockwork. Shut up.”

“Father, I’m not sure this is going right,” The Spine called uneasily.

“Just read your book, Spine. Everything is alright.”

The Spine scowled at them. Rabbit flicked his tongue, lizard-like, in response, leaning toward Cornelia as he did so.

“Rabbit, so help me…” The Spine muttered.

“Aw, it’s just a joke.”

“The Spine? Could I speak to you for a moment?”

The Spine, with a reluctant backward glance, walked slowly into the back of the lab. Rabbit giggled softly and murmured, “Alone at last.”

“What?” she said sharply.

Rabbit tightened the arm around her waist ever so gently and murmured into her ear, “I’m starting to enjoy this.”

“What?” she repeated, heart thumping.

“Yer nice and soft. It’s like havin’ my own teddy bear.”

“Thank you,” she said dryly. Oh, well.

He gave another squeeze as The Spine stomped back and sank into his chair. “Nine minutes.”

Rabbit bared his enamel teeth at The Spine and tweaked Cornelia on the thigh. She squeaked.

“Excuse me…” she mumbled. What was going on?

The Spine glared. “Hands to yourself, Rabbit.”

“It’ll be my hands to yourself if ya keep bossing me around,” Rabbit snapped.

“Oh, you’re threatening me.”

“Maybe. Maybe I wanna tickle ya. With a baseball bat.”

“Oh, you’re going to hit me. That’s very amusing…”

“Oh, it’s amusing? You think I won’t?”

“You’ve tried it before. You remember?”

“I remember the time I stole yehr wig and hung it from the roof.”

“And I remember the time I took off your arms and gave them to The Jon.”

“You did that when I was in stasis!”

“That was for convenience. I can pop them off right now if you don’t believe me.”

“Um…” Cornelia interrupted, bumping against Rabbit as he grew more agitated.

“Sh. You and what army, tin man?”

The Spine’s eyes flickered. “I _am_ an army, Rabbit.”

Rabbit laughed derisively. “Oh, yeah, I forgot… yehr a fighter, not a lover.”

Cornelia gasped. The Spine looked as though he would have gone pale, had he been able to do so.

“Rabbit!” barked Colonel Walter, hurrying from the back of the lab. “That’s enough! Time’s up anyway. Go cool off!”

Rabbit rose abruptly, knocking Cornelia’s desk to the side, and stalked out. He cast a glance back at The Spine as he left. Cornelia thought she could almost catch a look of regret, but The Spine was looking down at his hands and missed it.

After Rabbit had gone, The Spine rose to leave as well.

“I think you’d better stay until you calm down, son,“ said Colonel Walter.

“I won’t go after Rabbit, Father,” The Spine mumbled.

“I know. But I’d just rather you stayed here for a little while.”

“Yes, Father,” he whispered, sinking back into his chair. He curled up in it sideways, turned away from them both. Cornelia looked away miserably. Poor Spine… whatever had possessed Rabbit to touch such a sore point?

She forced herself to return to her work. After a few minutes, she heard a soft hiccup.

She stared at The Spine as he wiped the edge of his sleeve across his eyes.

She rose hesitantly. He glanced her way briefly.

“Are you alright?” she murmured, walking to him.

He nodded.

“You don’t seem alright.”

“I’m a robot. We’re inscrutable.”

“Indeed you are,” she replied with a little smile. “But your feelings aren’t.”

He tipped his head forward as though trying to keep her from seeing what she had already seen. His shoulders shook gently.

_Flutter…_

_Oh…_ She had almost forgotten that anyone but Rabbit could affect her that way. Though thinking of Rabbit, just at the moment, made her angry more than it did anything else. How could he have said something so cruel?

She sat on the edge of The Spine's chair, uncertain. If he was upset because of what Rabbit had said, wouldn’t being near him make it worse? Still, she knew the trouble between him and his older brother ran deeper than  romantic rivalry. Wasn’t it just like Rabbit to know it, too, and use it when he got angry?

Everyone has their bad side, she mused. She reached out and patted The Spine on the shoulder.

“I’m… I’m sorry about all of this… are you sure you want to keep coming in for these?”

“I have to,” he said gruffly, or as gruffly as he could manage while curled into a ball of misery.

“Can I… sit by you for a while?”

He grew very still for a moment. Without looking up, he wriggled to the side and made room for her. It was a large, heavy chair; strong enough to hold his weight but a good deal wider than he needed.

She slipped into the space beside him and awkwardly put one arm around him.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked softly, head still bowed.

“Because… because you’re my friend. I care about you… I hate to see you sad.”

He looked up now, wiping his eyes with one long-fingered hand. “You care about me?” he asked, as though that was all he had heard.

“Of course. Rabbit will never love me… I understand that. But you do. You love me even though I’m imprinted on him, you watch over me even though it breaks your heart.” Her voice shook as she said, “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Spine, and all I ever do is hurt you.”

Now _she_ was crying! _Everyone cries around here! Is it something in the water?_

She sighed miserably. “And this isn’t helping at all! I’m sorry, I’ll go…”

“No!” He took her hand as she started to scoot off the chair, stopping her. “It is helping, really. I don’t stay here for Rabbit. I shouldn’t let him get to me. I know what he’s like…”

“I don’t understand it, though. Why did he start a fight?”

“He doesn’t mean to, believe it or not. He gets bored and does things just to stir people up. Then we get mad at him and he doesn’t even realize he started it. It sounds like I’m blaming him for all of it… I’m not. I took the bait. But it’s what happens and he never gets it until after he hurts people. He’s probably waiting by my door to blubber an apology. He feels bad about this whole thing anyway. But he was mad so he picked the first thing that came into his head to hurt me…”

“How can you be so understanding? He was horrible…”

“I’ve watched the twins all these years.” He laughed quietly. “They act just the same way. Three gets a little irritated and everyone has to deal with him until he burns himself out, and Two takes the biggest part of it. But he forgives him. They’re brothers.”

Of course. If it made him more human, it was all good. She smiled and stroked his hand. He looked down at his feet, grinning, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I remember you being afraid to touch my hand,” she murmured.

“It’s okay now,” he said to the floor. “We’re friends.”

Rabbit abruptly popped his head around the door. “I’m sorry….”

“It’s alright, Rabbit. I’m okay now.”

“Ya are? Already? Apology hug!”

“Rabbit!” cried The Spine as Rabbit yanked him into a standing position and hugged him.

“Stella, too!” Rabbit crowed. “Say, she’s attached to your hand! Does that mean I don’t have to come in anymore?”

“No, it doesn’t,” the Spine sighed as Rabbit used his brother’s arm to haul Cornelia to her feet.

“Still crazy about me, baby?” Rabbit crooned as he hugged Cornelia.

“Don’t push your luck,” muttered The Spine.


	14. A Series of Short Lessons in Human Affection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia finds herself in want of lip balm.

There were more fights, from time to time, between the two brothers. It was just as The Spine had described… Rabbit would get bored and bait his younger brother, too often receiving the reaction he was seeking, due to choosing the most irritating means possible to provoke it. His greatest successes invariably came when he flirted in some way with Cornelia.

The Spine apologized to her after the fourth time he fell for it, explaining that he’d realized it was the knowledge that Rabbit was doing it on purpose that made him so angry. He didn’t like seeing Rabbit use Cornelia’s affections to help him pass the time. She assured him that she wasn’t troubled by it, now that she understood what Rabbit was up to, but that didn’t prevent Rabbit from succeeding the next time... and the time after that.

The chief trouble was Rabbit’s willingness to raise the stakes until he got results… even if it meant pushing The Spine’s anger to the point of his making good on the rather disturbing threat to pull Rabbit’s arms off.

They had reduced the time they spent sitting to just half an hour before The Spine reached his limit.

Rabbit had been in the middle of a game of marbles and resented having to stop for his scheduled sit. The Spine was sent to retrieve him, which he did with some difficulty. Cornelia could hear the brothers snapping at each other as they approached the lab.

"Ugh!" Rabbit cried, just outside the doorway. "I know! I'm not stupid!"

She heard the low murmur of The Spine's voice. The words were inaudible but the tone was clear... Rabbit had doubtless been reassured that The Spine disagreed with his last statement.

As such, as he stomped into the lab, Rabbit was spoiling for a fight. He didn’t even sit down upon entering.

"Well, then, I guess I'm too stupid to do anything right!" he barked at no one in particular. "Hope I don't mess _this_ up!"

He walked up to Cornelia. “Hey, Stella…”

“Hello, Rabb-“ she began.

Rabbit pulled her into his arms.

“What?” she gasped.

 As The Spine was turning from closing the door, Rabbit scooped her up and kissed her full on the mouth. Cornelia’s heart felt like it was ricocheting around her rib cage… she wasn’t sure whether it was a good feeling or not.

“Rabbit!” The Spine roared. The windows rattled.

No, not good! She wanted it to be good but it just wasn't. Even as her toes began to wriggle of their own accord, she realized she was not so much elated as terrified. The Spine… what would he do?

Colonel Walter sprinted to them from the back of the lab, his face pale. “What in the world? Rabbit! Put her down!”

Rabbit popped free of her lips with a smack. “I’m touchin’ her, ain’t I?” he said innocently. "The Spine said I had to come in and..."

“Technically, but you know very well what you're supposed to do! You agreed to this, Rabbit!” the Colonel scolded, his eyes flicking toward The Spine. Cornelia twisted to look at him around Rabbit’s shoulder. The Spine was standing very still. His eyes were flickering. Was it anger? Hurt? She didn't know which she dreaded more.

“Rabbit, please put me down,” she said thickly, fighting tears.

Rabbit looked at her, his smug expression melting in one of remorse. "Oh..." he breathed as he gently placed her onto her bench. “Aw… I… I’m sorry, Stella…” he whispered, deflated. “I’m a big jerk…”

“Yeah, you are,” The Spine said tightly, eyes on the floor, his voice trembling ever so slightly. “Father, I can’t do this anymore.”

He turned and jerked the door open. The entire thing came away in his hand, hinges and all.

“Dammit,” he muttered. He propped it next to the doorway and stalked out.

"Spine..." she whispered.

“I’ll fix it, Pappy…” Rabbit murmured contritely.

“Never mind that, son. We'll fix it later. Just sit down. Cornelia needs this to be done right, understand? No more picking fights with your brother.”

Rabbit slid timidly into place next to Cornelia. She tried to dab at her eyes with her fingertips, as inconspicuously as possible, irritated that he had managed to get a rise out of her, too.

“Pappy…” he began after slipping his arm gingerly around her as though expecting it to be slapped away.

“And apologize to him later.”

“He’ll pop my head off…”

“Well, I don’t mean to sound callous, but you should have considered that before offending Cornelia in front of him.” He settled into the big chair and picked up the book The Spine had left there. “You’re lucky I don’t just shut you down and let her use you as an easy chair.”

“Pappy, I feel b-b-badly enough…”

"It would get the job done, wouldn't it? I don't recall her ever saying it was your sparkling personality she needed..."

Cornelia giggled. Rabbit started, and frowned at her accusingly.

“Yehr laughing?” he asked incredulously.

“At the conversation, yes,” she sighed. She pulled out her handkerchief and wiped her eyes.

“But yehr crying…” he said, his expression shifting to one of confusion.

“Do you blame me? I don’t like it when you hurt your brother.”

“I didn't hurt... well, he… he always… ugh.” He slumped a little. “I’ll tell him I’m sorry even if he does rip my arms off. I deserve to have my arms ripped off.”

“Now don’t start feeling sorry for yourself,” she sighed. “I’m sorry to put you through all this, you know, but I do appreciate your help. Only I care about him, too…”

“You do, don’t ya?” he said softly, smiling. "You care a lot about him."

“Of course.” She blinked. “Now, don’t misunderstand…”

“I don’t.” He winked.

“Rabbit…”

Colonel Walter was peering at them both. “Cornelia, I hate to presume, but could you take a moment to write your reactions to the incident while they are still fresh in your mind?”

“Oh…” She glanced sidelong at Rabbit. “But…”

“I would never suggest that Rabbit was right in his actions…” He turned a stern look on his oldest son, who endeavored to look contrite. “But considering the nature of the contact, it could provide invaluable data. Possibly some further indication as to whether my working hypothesis is in some measure accurate.”

“I won’t peek.” Rabbit looked studiously at the ceiling.

“Very well…” she said, her face hot. She pulled out her notebook and wrote.

 

Rabbit had spent his half hour humming softly while she wrote. He asked Colonel Walter to join him when he went to speak to The Spine. Cornelia shook her head. How such a big automaton could do such rash things and then need his comparatively frail pappy to protect him when it went awry... She sighed. Only Rabbit.

She wearily put on her hat and went outside. It had been all she could do to endure the short sit today, and she needed some fresh air.

The grounds were bathed in warm afternoon sunshine. Summer was here and she still had no portal established. She wondered how much of a hindrance her condition had been to the research. Walter had certainly been adept at keeping the work going despite the need for a change in procedure, but it seemed that all her time was spent in either arbitrating fights between the older automatons or appeasing the younger ones.

Still, she had no resentment. Each one was dear to her, more dear than anyone she had known since the Old Dragon died. It wasn't easy to get close to the delicate humans... they were almost like pets to her. She recognized their intellect and advancement, but they came and went like candle flames. She could amost see them age before her very eyes.

The robots, however... They were very young, but they would linger, with care, possibly forever. Certainly as long as she would...

She found The Jon and Hatchworth sitting on a bench in a particularly park-like part of the grounds. She smiled when she saw them, but her smile faded when she saw their serious expressions.

“What is it?” she asked anxiously.

“I am not talking to you,” said Hatchworth.

She gasped, hurt.

“Hatchy! That is not nice!” The Jon scolded. “Stella has had a hard day.”

 _Bless your heart, Jon…_ “What have I done, Hatchworth?”

“You gave Rabbit a kissy-kiss! You have never given me a kissy-kiss!”

She was stunned. How had he heard? And which one did he mean? Her heart thumped a little harder. Rabbit had kissed her. Too bad he did it to be a jerk... And The Spine had... she pushed that aside, not wanting to think about it.

“I never knew you liked kisses, Hatchworth,” she replied, dazed.

“How do I know, if I have not had one?”

“You’ve had kisses, Hatchy!" cried The Jon. "Ma kisses you.”

“On the cheeks. I want one like Rabbit got!”

_Oh, great day in the morning…_

“Hatchworth,  do you not see me as rather a big sister? That sort of kiss is not one sisters give to their brothers.”

“I do not see you as a sister, Stella. You are my friend, and friends get kisses.”

Jon shook his head. She could see that even now he was fighting laughter. So much for his serious expression.

“Well, very well, I will give you one kiss. But after this we must promise always to kiss only on the cheeks, as is appropriate. Do you understand?”

“I do indeed.” He stood, beaming.

He was tall, too. At least, compared to her. She thought perhaps she could reach without making him stoop, but... Cornelia looked at his mouth, uneasy. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Hatchworth, how can I kiss you if your lips are not puckered?”

“Humans like smiles.”

“They do, but not for kissing. I can’t... I cannot kiss you on your teeth.”

“Why?”

“It…” _Think, Cornelia…_ “It would not be a proper kiss. You want the right kind, do you not?”

“Oh, yes,” he grinned.

“Well, then…”

He grinned down at her and pointed at his teeth. “Plant one right there.”

She looked at The Jon and realized he was doubled up in silent laughter. No help there.

She thought for a moment. When she had kissed Rabbit, he’d puckered in the process of counting. Possibly if she could get Hatchworth to say something that made him pucker... “Hatchworth,” she said suddenly. “About those delightful sandwiches you served two nights ago? What kind of bread did you use?”

“Do not change the subject.”

“This is going to help, I promise. What kind of bread was it?”

It took very little to get Hatchworth onto the subject of sandwiches, even when he had an axe to grind. “Well, that was a very fine quality pumpernickel.”

“A fine quality... What was it again?” She put her hands onto his shoulders, waiting.

“Pum-“

She bobbed onto her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss onto his puckered lips.

“-pernickel.” He touched his mouth. “That was too quick!”

She sighed. “Pretend you are about to say, ‘pumpernickel.’”

His mouth formed the beginning of the word and she kissed him softly on the lips. His inexplicable moustache tickled her nose.

He smiled and gently touched his mouth, eyes drifting skyward before coming back down to look at her.

“I like those. No wonder The Spine wants one so badly.”

“Hatchy…” Jon said, suddenly serious once more.

Cornelia’s cheeks burned. Hatchworth knew entirely too much! Of course, she had known The Spine wished she had kissed him instead of Rabbit. Her heart thumped painfully. After this morning, she was rather wishing it herself.

“Can we take one to The Spine?” Hatchworth was asking. “I would take it myself, only he wants it from Stella…”

She clapped her hand to her forehead. “What have I done? Alright, Hatchworth, there are a few guidelines for kisses. The most important rule is never to kiss anyone without permission. Understood? We always ask and receive consent.” She felt her cheeks turning redder as she realized she had already broken that rule. Rabbit had certainly gotten his revenge, though, whether or not he had done it for that purpose.

She pondered. “If it is a child, you must have the parent’s consent, and kiss only on cheek or forehead. Second, I understand it is not common for brothers and sisters to kiss on the lips. And if they do, I am sure it is only very briefly…” I hope.

“And you must only ask to kiss people to whom you are very close. I don’t mean in distance, but in personal regard. Only family and very good friends.”

“I can follow these rules.” He nodded and looked meaningfully at The Jon, who leaned away uneasily.

“Stella, I do not think The Jon wishes to kiss me,” whispered Hatchworth.

“No, indeed…”

“Will you do it?”

“I already…”

“He means me,” Jon said, rising from the bench. He smiled, relaxed once more. “I haven’t had one.”

“Oh… I... well...”

This, oddly, made her nervous. The Jon had always seemed like a gentle younger brother, but there was something more there, as well. Nothing like she felt for Rabbit, or even The Spine, but... a melting sort of warmth she suspected could become something truly troubling. Still, his childlike innocence took much of the fear away.

She recalled abruptly that he could read her thoughts. She looked at him. He was still smiling, but there was a little twinkle in his eye.

"Thank you, Stella."

"For what?"

His eyes crinkled with fond amusement as he stepped forward, cradling her cheeks in his hands, and kissed her gently on the lips.

Drawing away, he murmured, “You’re almost ready, Stella. You’ll understand soon.”

“Understand what?” she asked, worried.

“What you’re supposed to do. And why." His thumbs gently passed below her eyes, wiping tears she didn't understand, hadn't realized she'd cried. "And he's going to be alright, thanks to you.”

“Who? Jon…”

“Stella!” called Rabbit, approaching from the direction of the manor. “Jon, why do you have Stella’s face in yehr hands? Pappy needs her help!”

“What’s wrong?” she asked anxiously.

“The Spine needs maintenance,” he said, looking downcast. “He was so upset… He hasn’t been taking care of himself… his oil got too low and his boiler was nearly dry. He’s… he’s sick, Stella. It’s all my fault…”

She ran all the way back to the manor, not even stopping to console Rabbit.

 

“Colonel?” she cried when she reached the large laboratory used for robot maintenance. She stopped short as she entered, shocked in spite of herself.

The Spine was in a maintenance chair, his human clothing stripped away. She felt a sudden, unreasonable urge to avert her eyes. To her relief, he was in stasis.

“Stella! Erm, I mean Cornelia. I beg your pardon. Yes, I need some assistance. I’ve topped off the water reservoir but the blasted thing is clogged. I don’t know how heat resistant you are in your human form, but given the scorched handprint on Rabbit’s wall, I have to assume you can take a good deal of it. If you could examine his boiler and find the problem? I’ll prepare to force flush his oil… it’s gummed up."

He ran his hands through his thinning hair. "Of all people, to worry us like this! Fool of an automaton! Idiot boy!" he cried in sudden distress. "I can’t understand why he’s let it go so long! He usually tends to these things himself, unlike his brothers.”

She placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Colonel, I'll check his boiler. I can cope with a great deal of heat, as you surmised."

He patted her hand and nodded, then hurried off to prepare the equipment. She sighed deeply and removed her hat. “I understand why,” she murmured. She set her hat aside and examined the boiler, soon finding a build-up of lime around one of the connections. She fetched a stiff, round brush and cleared it quickly. Boiling water bubbled through, spattering her, but it didn't hurt. Steam began pouring from his vents almost immediately.

She looked up and saw that he was looking back at her. “Cornelia?” he murmured faintly.

“You shouldn’t be conscious,” she said gently. “You’re very low on oil.”

“I’m not dressed…”

“Would you like me to cover you with something?”

He nodded, looking away and closing his eyes. She fetched a drop cloth from a nearby cupboard and draped it over him from the waist down. There was nothing to cover, but she understood. It might not be the same sort of nakedness as the human kind, but it was still nakedness.

“Thank you,” he said weakly, looking up at her once more.

“Cornelia? Did you find it?” called Walter.

“It’s all taken care of, Colonel. Should he be in stasis?”

"Isn't he?"

"He's talking to me." _And staring at me..._

“Not if you’ve cleared the clog," he replied, sounding relieved. "But we’ll have to shut him down for the system flush.”

“Did you hear that?” she asked, taking his hand, unsure how else to treat a sick robot. He squeezed hers weakly. “We have to flush out your lines. Spine, how could you let yourself get in this state? You must take care of yourself! What good will it do to let yourself fall to pieces, hm? Take some time to tend to yourself.”

“Does it matter?” he said almost inaudibly, his vocal assembly dry from lack of lubricant.

She was shocked. “What sort of talk is that?”

“I’m sorry,” he croaked.

“Don’t…” she whispered miserably. “You have nothing to be sorry for…”

“Cornelia..." His grip loosened. "I... I don’t… feel right…”

She could hear a low, raspy grinding noise in his chest. His eyelids dropped halfway.

“Colonel!” she cried.

“It’s alright, m’dear,” Walter said, hurrying back with the needed equipment. “Let’s shut him down and set to work. He’ll be back to himself when we’re done.”

“Wait. Spine? Can you hear me? We’re going to shut you down now. You’re going to feel much better when you wake up.”

He opened his eyes much too slowly and looked at her. “Alright,” he said silently, his vocal assembly completely dry.

_Flutter…_

“You idiot…” she half-sobbed, clutching his now limp hand.

Might as well make it all four, she thought. Disregarding the presence of Colonel Walter, she kissed The Spine very gently on the lips. He smiled weakly for a moment before his expression went completely blank and his eyes darkened.

She cried out, but the Colonel quickly put his hand on her shoulder, startling her. “It's alright. I shut him off, dear. He was bone dry, I couldn't risk further damage.”

She realized she’d stopped breathing and gasped for air. “Of course,” she choked, willing her heart to beat slowly once more. “Let’s…” Her voice failed her. She swallowed hard. “Let’s get to work, then.”

He nodded, giving her a long, appraising look before reaching for the prepared equipment.

 

Several hours later, The Spine was in good working order. They had cleaned his tubing, replaced his oil, and repaired parts damaged from running without sufficient lubrication. She helped the Colonel to put The Spine back into his human clothing before powering him back on. It was no easy thing to dress a metal man of The Spine’s weight in the comparatively frail fabric, but they managed it in stages until at last he was once again wearing his shirt, tie and trousers. He had been too ill to raise much of a protest before, but if he woke in Cornelia's presence wearing only a tarp, he would doubtless have been mortified.

Cornelia smoothed his hair into place, stopping to look at his shuttered eyes. He looked like a doll, almost, like this. Sit him upright and his eyes will open…

“Will it work, sir?” she asked anxiously. “Will he power on properly?”

“Oh, yes… we've repaired all the damage. It just slowed him down, wore down a few gears. Rabbit and I went to find him and discovered him halfway to his room, still walking. He didn’t seem to realize how slowly he was moving until he had us as a comparison. I think it frightened him. Rabbit carried him all the way here, you know.”

“Did he?" she asked distractedly, still stroking The Spine's hair. She knew it was just a wig, but it snapped into place, and it was so much a part of him... "That’s very sweet.”

He stared at her once more. “That it was,” he replied thoughtfully. “Well, turn the key.”

He held out the little key used to turn The Spine's power on. "Me?"

"Yes. I think... I think he would appreciate that."

"If you say so..." She inserted the key and gave it a quarter turn, activating his core, then removed it and returned it to the Colonel.

The Spine hummed to life, cycling through a systems check before opening his eyes. He blinked the shutters several times. He raised his arms and felt his chest and stomach, tugging gently at the clothing there as though confirming he was wearing it.

“What happened, Father?” he murmured, looking up.

Colonel Walter looked down at him, his jaw set in a hard line. Suddenly his chin trembled as he cried, “What happened is that you have allowed yourself to fall into a lamentable state! What got into your fool head, boy? Do I need to schedule your maintenance just like I do with the others, hm?”

Cornelia looked at him reproachfully, but she realized he had been more worried than he’d let on by The Spine’s illness. The Spine had a scolding coming to him for his carelessness. Still, she felt sincerely sorry that he was obliged to hear it.

The Spine lowered his eyes, shamefaced. "I'm sorry to have worried you, Father."

He got slowly to his his feet. Colonel Walter, every inch as tall as The Spine, pulled the silver automaton gently into his arms and held him. The Spine carefully squeezed him back. Turning his head, he noticed Cornelia.

She stood as he pulled away from the Colonel.

“Spine…” she murmured. "We were so worried..."

He stared down at her. His eyes widened and he slowly touched his lips.

“What _else_ happened…” he began.

Cornelia blushed deeply and looked away.

Rabbit bounced into the room, followed by The Jon and Hatchworth.

“I told you he was awake!” crowed The Jon happily.

Cornelia felt rather relieved. She wasn’t sure she was prepared to talk to The Spine about what else had happened.

"Yeah, great!" cried Rabbit, jerking his brother into a crushing hug and letting him go in almost the same moment. "Nice to see ya functioning again, dumbhead. But Pappy has a phone call."

"I almost forgot we had one of those..." Walter commented. "Excuse me."

He hurried out. The other robots grabbed The Spine by the hands and dragged him toward the dining room, fussing and insisting he top off his boiler. Cornelia followed along at a safe distance, giggling to herself, and looking away carefully whenever The Spine contrived to look at her questioningly through the throng of concerned siblings. Colonel Walter returned halfway through the meal, still looking grave. She supposed it would take him a little time to recover from the worrying event.

The Spine looked at her once more. She forced herself not to look away. He smiled and touched his lips meaningfully.

 _He remembers,_ she realized. _He remembers I kissed him._

She smiled shyly and looked away. _Good._

There was nothing that could dim their joy that night. Nothing to mar the happiness of The Spine's return from the edge... or close to it.

Colonel Walter waited until the next day to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the strain is too great for you, I'll tell you this... It's late June, 1914. And if the U.S. isn't joining the war for another 3 years, it doesn't mean that everyone in the U.S. is willing to just sit back and watch.


	15. Life Happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's bad news and good news, in that order. A promising little interlude is on the horizon before the world really falls in.

Walter Manor was unusually quiet. Colonel Walter’s news had seen to that. Even The Jon, who seemed to know everything before it happened, was shocked at the news of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife. But it was the broader scope that had sobered the inhabitants of Walter Manor.

“This will likely result in Austria-Hungary declaring war,” he told them. “Then it will only be a matter of time before they call in the support of allies in Europe, even if they haven’t done so already. I shouldn’t be surprised if the whole world ends up embroiled in it.”

Iris cried. Cornelia was silent, stunned. He’d warned her. She was grateful, but… these people! Their lives were so short, their time so brief! Why did they try so hard to cut even that time shorter?

She took some comfort in the knowledge that the U.S. was not involved, and not likely to ever become so. For now, the Walter automatons were safe.

“They say the whole affair will be over in six months,” Walter had added heavily. “I hope that holds true.”

“I don’t,” said Three. “Or I’ll never get the chance to get into it!”

“You’re only seventeen, Three! And this country isn’t at war.”

“I’ll be eighteen soon, Pappy. And if we’re not in it by then, I’ll go to England and enlist.”

“You’ll do no such thing!”

“Aw, Pappy!”

“This isn’t a football game, son! People are going to die.”

“Are you worried about the European members of the Cavalcadium, sir?" asked Cornelia. "I know there are a number of them in danger’s path, people without the means to get out…”

“I had thought of that. That’s why we’ll be holding a ball at the end of next week..."

The robots and the twins reacted at once.

"Dancing?" cried Rabbit.

"I can try out the steps Mae taught me," murmured Three. "Can I bring a date, Pappy?"

"Me, too?" said Two. Three looked at him with wide eyes. Two looked at the ceiling.

Cornelia smiled and glanced at The Spine. He was looking back, a curious expression on his face. It looked... she couldn't quite work out how it looked. Was it intense? Searching? It seemed to her that it was catching hold of her... as though he was touching her all over even when he was on the other side of the room.

She looked away quickly, her face hot. He had been looking at her like that more and more since... well, since his illness. It confused and worried her. And her response to it confused her still more.

"As I was saying... I am concerned about them," Walter continued. "I want to get the local members out and gain their support in seeing to it that the European members are brought to safety. Would that I could bring all of Europe along with them… or at least, all those who aren’t trying to start a war.” He sighed. “But it’s not going to be all business. We’ll have a meeting after supper, then the dancing. I think everyone will want a bit of fun after so much serious talk. I’ll need all of you to attend. Formal wear only.”

Rabbit, who had been bobbing in excitement, groaned. “Fancy clothes, Pappy?”

“The entire ensemble, Rabbit, or no dancing.”

“Aw, Pappy!” he moaned, almost exactly like Three had.

The Jon giggled and Rabbit punched him in the arm. Cornelia was amused in spite of herself, and wondered what clothing Rabbit would be wearing that inspired so much dread.

“We’ll be there, Father,” The Spine promised.

She saw in her imagination The Spine in formal wear, his hair brushed smartly back.

 _Flutter…_ She smiled. He'd look so dashing...

“You like dancing, too, Cornelia?” asked Walter.

“Hm?”

“You’re smiling.”

Oops. “Oh, I was just thinking… well… No, I never actually learned how to dance.”

All eyes were upon her.

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“Uh-oh,” murmured Walter, cracking the first smile he’d had since his phone call the night before.

“Everyone should know how to dance,” Rabbit assured her in serious tones.

“Oh.”

“Who gets to teach her the first lesson?” he asked the assembled family members. The brothers, human and robotic, all looked at one another.

“One, two, three, shoot!” cried The Jon.

Six hands flew out, holding up different numbers of fingers.

“Yes!” cried Rabbit.

“I’m second,” said Two.

“Third,” cried Hatchworth.

“Fourth,” said The Spine quietly.

The Jon and Three shot for the fifth and sixth spots.

“How many lessons do you think I’ll need to get the knack of it?” she asked skeptically.

“Hopefully at least six,” moped The Jon. Three clapped him on the back sympathetically.

“And you’re all so eager to teach me?”

“We don’t get to dance enough. We dance with each other sometimes,” said The Jon, making a face. “When there is a ball, a lot of the ladies are afraid to dance with us.”

“But you won’t be, will ya, Stella? Keep yehr dance card open! We've got all the slots called.”

“Oh, dear.” Still, better them than some of those scientists...

The lessons began that same day, and came every afternoon at three o’clock. Rabbit chased his brothers out of the living room… literally… and taught her basic steps with a grace she hadn’t expected. Sometimes he had her stand on his feet while he did the dancing, saying it would help her get the rhythm. It was certainly easier, in fact, dancing in general was easier than she thought. By the end of Rabbit’s lesson, she felt as though she was ready to dance with anyone.

Then came Two’s lesson, the next day. Two was a good deal less skillful at dancing, but he taught her that it was not nearly as easy as Rabbit made it seem. And, unlike Rabbit, he could feel it when she stepped on his toe… and she was heavier than she looked. She was rather relieved by the end of the lesson that some of her teachers would _not_ be automatons. If she was to dance at the ball, surely there would be some human partners at some point or another. She didn’t want to grow careless dancing with the durable robots.

Hatchworth’s lesson was surprisingly good. He taught her a simple, popular step called the “Castle Walk.” It involved little bouncing; suitable for a stout, heavy automaton and an inexperienced dragon scientist. And he danced with skill but didn’t do all the work for her the way Rabbit had. She came away with a reasonable command of the dance.

Then came The Spine’s lesson. He taught her to waltz.

The first hurdle was their relative heights… though Rabbit was nearly as tall as The Spine, he had no qualms about pulling her close, even to the point of pressing directly against her. She’d rather enjoyed it. But The Spine kept her almost at arm’s length… his arm. She asked him to pull her closer when she realized she couldn’t actually reach his shoulder.

Like Rabbit, he was surprisingly graceful. He only seemed to falter when she stood on his feet the way she had with Rabbit, which brought her much closer to him. She had trouble at these moments as well; the sound of his motor and hissing steam was rather distracting, she supposed.

She was surprisingly exhausted by the end of the waltz lesson.

Three taught her a dance called the foxtrot, at which he was very skilled. He did tend to be a little fresh, sneaking his hands a little too low or pulling her just a bit too close, but it took only a flash of the eyes or a puff of brimstone to straighten him out and remind him who, and what, his partner was.

And, finally, The Jon taught her to tango. It was a supple sort of dance, and he was a supple sort of robot, so it seemed fitting. He later received a tongue-lashing from Rabbit for wasting her time teaching her a dance she wouldn’t need at a ball for scientists, but Cornelia just smiled. It had been marvelous fun…

They each had the chance to deliver a second lesson before the night arrived and all their work would be tested. She hoped it wouldn’t be tested too rigorously; she had largely submitted to the course to help distract them from their worries, and her own, and to keep them out of the way of the preparations.

Although the prospect of dancing with each of them, or at least each of the robots, also made it worthwhile.

 

The night of the ball arrived. Iris had helped her make a gown suitable for the ball, since she had come to Walter Manor with only a number of serviceable suits. The dress she wore was deep green, made of a soft, gauzy stuff and trimmed with black velvet ribbons and bows. She felt a bit like a patch of shamrocks, but when she looked in the mirror, she gasped.

She had always thought herself a rather dowdy girl, with her little round face and freckles and unremarkable hair. And after all, she could have made herself tall, willowy, and glamorous if she’d wanted… but this seemed the equal of her dragon form.

Well, Iris knew her business. Cornelia knew (indeed, all the Cavalcadium did as well) that Iris had once been a housemaid, and no doubt had picked up a certain amount of useful skills from it. But as far as Cornelia could see, knowledge was power. The dress fit her like a glove and made her eyes and hair gleam. And her little round face… was positively cute, frame as it was by her hair in the puffy style Iris had given it.

Iris tweaked her cheeks sharply and said, “There you are. My! You look like a rose, Cornelia dear. A perfect rose!”

Cornelia blushed. “I’m sure I don’t…”

Iris beamed. “Very good! A little maidenly flush doesn’t hurt!”

Cornelia looked at Iris wonderingly. The Walter matriarch had always had the most remarkable way of seeming completely oblivious to Cornelia’s age, race and career. As far as Iris was concerned, Cornelia was a young lady going to her first ball.

Which, of course, she was, in her own way! She smiled at her reflection and thought of each of the robots donning his formal wear elsewhere in the house. Each one she pictured brought a soft little ache of eagerness to see how he looked. Though serious subjects would be discussed this evening, ominous affairs mingling with the social ones, for once she would be part of both.

She followed Iris into the hall and toward the staircase. At the bottom stood The Jon, wearing grey trousers and matching vest over a white shirt, with a blue bow tie that matched his eyes.

“Jon! You look wonderful!” she said as she careful moved down the staircase in her flowing gown.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling. “You’re beautiful.”

“You always say that.”

“It’s always true.” He kissed her on the cheek.

“Oh, Jon…”

Hatchworth stumped into the hall, his collar up, a stiff shirt front sticking out at an odd angle from his black tuxedo vest.

“Mother, I broke it…” he said, dismayed. Iris hurried to help him, bustling him back into his room as The Jon giggled.

“Where are the others?” she asked, laughing with him.

“Rabbit made an awful fuss. Pappy had to remind him he was supposed to wear the whole suit if he wanted to dance! The Spine is helping Pappy put it all on, but it took them a while to find all of it and Rabbit’s hair was…”

“Hair?” interrupted Cornelia. Rabbit had hair?

“Sure,” Jon said brightly. “Pappy had wigs made for all of us, for the stage, concerts, that kind of thing. Well, Hatchy can’t wear one, so that’s why he has a mustache. He was awful upset when they said he couldn’t have a wig. Bet you were wondering.”

“Of course I was! That does explain it. But I can’t get over Rabbit having a wig! What’s it like?”

“Well… It’s… It’s kinda brownish reddish… it’s supposed to match his copper faceplate. It’s lighter than yours… But I don’t know what shape it’ll be in because Rabbit stuffed it into the stove to try and burn it. They caught him first but they had to wash it…”

Cornelia laughed merrily at the thought of Rabbit trying to dispose of his hair.

“Shall we see how it’s going?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Jon held out his elbow with a sidelong look, and she slipped her hand into it. They walked toward Rabbit’s room.

Inside, from the sound of it, Rabbit was still raising Cain. “I don’t need it styled!”

“Look at it, Rabbit! Do you want to look like that when you ask a lady to dance?”

This apparently scored a direct hit, as there was a deep silence and the sound of sullen murmuring. Cornelia and Jon covered their mouths and giggled softly.

“There, now doesn’t that look better?” they heard The Spine ask.

“Dashing, son. You’ll turn head and break hearts.”

“Ya got 'em the wrong way around,” came Rabbit’s sulky reply.

“What does _that_ mean?” asked The Jon faintly. Cornelia shrugged.

“You look great, Rabbit,” The Spine insisted.

“Whatever. Can we just go?”

Heavy footsteps were coming toward them. They stepped back as the door opened and Rabbit rushed from the room and directly into The Jon.

“Get outta the hall, dummins, yehr gonna mess me all up!” he snapped. He saw Cornelia and froze.

“Hello, Rabbit,” she said softly, taking it all in.

He was wearing hair, indeed. It appeared to be hooked on in front and was styled to look as though it had grown there. His dark brown suit was slightly rumpled but clearly expensive and finely tailored to his tall figure, and accented with a deeply turquoise cravat, matching the spats he wore over a fresh pair of brown shoes.

“You look wonderful, Rabbit,” she said.

“Stella, baby, is that you?” He whistled. “C’mon! Let’s go see the band!”

“Rabbit…” The Jon said hastily, but Rabbit had caught Cornelia by the hand and was hurrying her down the hall toward the ballroom. She trotted hastily along beside him, glancing back once as they hurried away. The Spine had just stepped out of Rabbit's room and was looking after them as his father straightened his tie. She swallowed a little stab of dismay and sighed.

Oh, well. She would get a better look at him later…


	16. Life Continued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which some hard truths come through, some from those who care, and some from those who are big jerks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I have since done a piece of art that should give you a visual. The tux is more of a 1930s style, but from what I've seen, menswear changes very slowly over time.
> 
> http://beethegatekeeper.deviantart.com/art/Spine-Tux-Lineless-586379136

The ballroom at Walter Manor was full of light. Though it would still not be needed for several hours, it stood ready, tables and chairs lining almost every wall, providing refreshment and rest from the dancing to come.

Rabbit’s primary interest was at the far end on a low bandstand. A small group of musicians was practicing some of the songs they would be playing later. Cornelia supposed it was only natural that Rabbit would take a professional interest.

“Hey!” he said affably as he approached.

The band leader turned with a look of mild annoyance at the interruption and gaped.

“Yeah, I know, they made me wear hair… Stella, this here’s Eddie Reed. He helped us learn to sing back when we were new.”

“Is that you, Rabbit? I hardly recognized you in that rug,” said Eddie Reed, smirking.

“Very funny. This is… this is Cornelia.”

She looked at him, surprised. She’d begun to wonder if he even remembered that she’d had another name when she got here.

The man stopped the band and hopped down to take her hand and kiss it. “Enchanted! You brought a date, Rabbit?”

“This is the Professor, dummins. I figured she’d probably like you to know her real name.”

Eddie looked momentarily startled. Recovering, he said jovially, “Ah, well! You never could get names right. I guess this is a step up.”

“Yuck yuck yuck,” Rabbit said without malice. “Yehr on a roll.”

“I was until you came in. Look, I have to get these guys in shape. I’ll see ya later. Oh, hey, are we gonna get a song outta you three tonight?”

“I dunno. It’s Pappy’s party… he may not want us performing at it. Lotta stuck up eggheads coming.”

“Oh, and you’re too good to be musicians tonight?” The man laughed heartily.

“That’s right, ya low-life. Don’t steal the silverware.”

They left him laughing still harder as he resumed the practice.

“A bit rough on each other, weren’t you?” she asked, smiling, as they walked toward the hallway.

“Oh, yeah. We always like to have fun. Don’t mean nothing by it. He ain’t a low-life, either. He has his own club in L.A. now, got a bunch of songs out. Real good ones, too. He’s just doing this as a favor to Pappy. He adds class wherever he goes.”

“He seemed surprised by something…”

“Probably that I got yehr n-n-name right,” Rabbit snorted.

“Maybe…” She had a feeling someone had been gossiping with the musicians. She could think of any number of interesting facts they could have shared with Eddie Reed, each more uncomfortable than the last. “Why did you use that name, by the way?”

“Well, Stella ain’t yehr real name…”

“Funny thing is, it’s closer than Cornelia is. I just took that name to blend in better.”

“No kidding?”

“Yes. My given name means, essentially, ‘She who is born to this place.’ Not very exciting, even with the added connotation. It was meant to indicate that I was a daughter born to a family of prominence. I chose my name as Stelle because of what I knew of the German language… it was the only Earth language the Old Dragon had yet learned…"

Rabbit gave her a puzzled look. She realized she'd only told The Jon and Hatchworth about the Old Dragon. "He was my mentor. He originally found the connection to Earth, or a small one. I later devised how to make it large enough to pass through... but then I couldn't find my way back." She chuckled, rather embarrassed. "Anyway, when I chose to Americanize Stelle, the word I found in the dictionary was Spot. There were other options but that was simple so I chose it. I didn’t realize it was a rather silly name.”

He laughed. “I asked you once if that was your real name. Now I know.”

The Jon ran in a moment later. “Why are you in here? The Spine is in the dining room?”

“So?” Rabbit said lazily.

The Jon rolled his eyes. “Along with everyone else! The guests are arriving.”

“Oh. Right. Shall we?” Rabbit extended his elbow toward her. The Jon hurried to her other side and did the same.

She smiled and accepted both, and they escorted Cornelia to the dining room. The far wall of the room had been opened, to Cornelia’s surprise.

"It's bigger! How is that possible?"

“It was always bigger. There used to be a lot of staff here. But it's just been family for a while so Pappy had a divider built so we could still open it for special occasions,” The Jon told her.

“Ah. But… there are place cards? We don't get to sit together?”

“What?” Rabbit said, scanning the cards. “Hey, what gives?  I’m sitting next to that old lady with all the cats!”

“Rabbit…” said the Colonel, walking toward them. “Please keep your voice down! Madame Bellgrazia has a weakness for automatons and other curious machines. She also swears like a soldier." He added in a whisper, "She also has more money than Switzerland. I hope I can count on you to work your special magic with her.”

At the suggestion that he had his own special magic, and the promise of dinner chat filled with profanity, Rabbit’s cries of protest at being labeled a “curious machine” evaporated. “Alright, Pappy! I’m on the job.”

“Jon, I have you sitting with some of our more timid guests.”

"Timid?" The Jon smiled and said warmly, “Why? They don’t need to be scared of us."

The Colonel put an arm around his shoulders, beaming. “Exactly. Hatchworth, however, is sitting among the most callous and rude people in the party. He never understands their sarcasm and isn’t easily intimidated. I know General Mayer at least will likely go too far. Fortunately, he also has the tendency to respect people who sass back" He laughed.

"Yeah, Hatchy does that," Rabbit agreed with a grin. "I hope I'm not sitting too far from them..."

"Not far at all, as I had to be careful who sits near Madame Bellgrazia." He shook his head. "And The Spine is sitting with some of the younger ladies."

Cornelia looked up. Would that include her? Technically she was the oldest person in attendance...

"You know how the younger ladies like to tease. Don't tell him I said that... He unfortunately has to remain ignorant of why he's sitting next to them or he'll be completely at a loss. I hate to put him through it... but they're open to almost anything when you let them tease you..." He cleared his throat awkwardly. She didn't ask him how he knew. "Although, even if he gets too tongue-tied to speak, he’ll make an impression! It never fails. And Cornelia, I assumed you’d be most at ease among your fellow scientists so…”

He looked toward the doors as another guest was announced. “Oh! I must greet His Lordship personally. Find your seats, everyone.”

Cornelia watched him hurry away. It seemed clear she would be nowhere near any of the automatons, as she had no gifts in any of the categories he mentioned and would likely give a tongue-lashing to the rude general and teasing ladies alike. Still, she was rather impressed. She had heard of the Walter automatons having fought battles, but she had only heard of the one they fought against Thaddeus Becile. Now the Colonel and his sons prepared to use their various charms to best advantage in a different sort of battle. She knew what they were up against in seeking aid; some of the members of the Cavalcadium were very tight-fisted indeed.

She found her seat and noted who would be sitting around her. Some of them were old colleagues. This was a double-edged sword. While it meant that she knew them, a few she knew rather better than she would have liked.

“Cornelia?” murmured a low voice behind her.

She turned abruptly and almost fell into his arms. He caught her elbow, steadying her.

“Spine! You startled me,” she gasped. She looked at him, taking in the entire picture. She put her hand to her throat, breathless. “Oh!”

The Spine was dressed in a dark grey, almost black tuxedo and a white bow tie. His hair was swept back as usual, but with more care, so that the sides were smooth and the top had a slight wave.*

But as breathtaking as she found this, it was his expression, that made her heart thump. She realized he had been looking her up and down as well, and the look had returned, the look that she could almost feel.

This expression vanished, however, when he noticed her reaction.

“What is it?” he asked worriedly, tugging at his tie.

“No, don’t spoil it!” she cried, straightening the white bow anxiously. “You just look…" She swallowed. "You look just stunning.”

“Do I?” he asked, wide-eyed. This was no doubt part of what intrigued the young ladies... the enchanting lack of realization that he looked perfectly dazzling.

“Have you seen yourself?” she asked, amazed.

“Well, yes… I guess I’m just not my type.” He smiled nervously.

She laughed, her head buzzing slightly. “I heard about the seating arrangements… is that why you’re nervous?”

He nodded vigorously. “If this wasn’t so important, I think I would have been angry. I've met those young ladies before. They always tease me... whisper fresh things into my ears to see me get uncomfortable. Once they had a contest to see who could make me steam the hardest."

She gasped."That's... troubling..."

"You should have heard what they said. Then you'd know just how troubling it was... One of them even kissed me."

Now she was angry. "Does Colonel Walter know about this? That is just... that's not right, putting you through that!"

"Cornelia..." he said softly, a little smile coming to his face. "You're sweet."

This stopped her short. "I... just don't think it's right, that's all," she murmured, blushing.

"I know. Thank you. But... I'm willing to go through it. He must have a good reason. Father wouldn’t do this to me without need.”

The Colonel said The Spine didn't understand. She thought he understood more than his father had anticipated.

“Poor thing,” she murmured, defeated. “I just wish we could have sat together just as we always do. Then we could comfort each other.”

“What? Why? Where has he put you?” he asked, suddenly concerned.

“Oh, I just have to sit with some of the other scientists," she said dismissively. "Some of them aren’t exactly friends of mine. One as I recall was very fresh. Kept calling me “Miss Spot” and trying to flirt with me…”

She trailed off. The Spine’s nervousness appeared to have vanished. “Does Father know this, Cornelia?” he asked seriously, a little note of danger in his tone. “We have to tell him before you end up sitting by that… that…”

“Spine! It’s alright, it’s only for a little while, and then we’ll all go into the theater for the meeting.”

“But you’ll be stuck here with him…”

“And others! Surely he will mind his manners in the presence of his colleagues.”

“Why don’t we just switch…”

“No!” she cried. She looked around uneasily at the half-filled dining room. “Your father planned this carefully. I don’t want to trouble him. Please, I’ll be fine. If you can endure all those flirts, I can endure one.”

He let out one long sigh, a thin plume of steam rising as he did so. There was murmuring from the guests taking their seats nearby.

“I'd rather endure mine than think of you enduring yours, but... Alright.”

He pulled out her chair and made sure she was seated before he turned to go to his own seat, adding with a backward look, “But I’ll be here to escort you to the meeting just as soon as dinner is done. And, oh, I almost forgot with all the… Well, may I have the first dance?”

“Alright,” she breathed. He nodded and she watched him walk away.

The trousers were cut nicely as well… She blushed and pulled out her dance card to fill in his name.

 

Dinner was tolerable, for her, at least. The one scientist in question, one Professor Charles from Gisbourne University in Pennsylvania, barely spoke to her for the entire meal; indeed, he scarcely appeared to remember having met her before. Possibly, she reasoned, he didn’t recognize her in anything other than tweed.

In fact, she had a rather stimulating chat with a few former colleagues from Austria who were already very much in favor of what Colonel Walter proposed to attempt. She risked a few glances at The Spine throughout the meal, and found him usually looking uneasy, sometimes smiling nervously, as the younger women around him chattered and teased him flirtatiously. Now and then she caught his eye and he forced a smile, but she had seen how he really felt. She grew steadily more eager to have a chat with Colonel Walter about his choice of seating, no matter how important the cause.

When the announcement was made to move to the theater for the meeting, she looked toward The Spine. To her dismay, she saw him being collected by the minor harem of young ladies who had been his dinner companions. As they bustled him away, he looked over their heads toward her with a look that cycled from alarmed to apologetic before he disappeared through the doors.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Miss Spot!" cried a loud voice beside her. "I hardly recognized you! My, you are looking enchanting this evening. I beg your pardon, I have neglected you throughout dinner! Allow me to make amends by escorting you to the meeting.”

Crying was certainly in the lead.

She forced a smile and accepted the man’s arm, walking with him to the theater as graciously as she could manage, remembering the importance on keeping everyone cheerful and open as the Colonel’s presentation began.

She hardly heard a word of it herself, however. Between the distracting need to find endless, seemingly accidental ways of making her arm and hand unavailable to her companion, and looking at The Spine as the young ladies from time to time tugged at his bow tie or whispered into his ears, she scarcely had time to listen. She wondered, in fact, that anyone heard any of it, so lively and jovial were they. But when Walter had finish speaking, there was an encouragingly enthusiastic ovation and indeed, Walter would later report that many of the attendees had made generous pledges of support to the cause, and still others had assured him that they were already taking steps of their own to see to it that friends and colleagues had the means to flee to safer locations.

Walter, beaming, asked that they repair to the ballroom for dancing and Cornelia rose hastily, slipping away before her companion could follow.

The Spine had the first dance. Surely he could break away from his aggressors long enough for that!

But when she reached the ballroom, in the first cluster of guests, he was nowhere in sight. She pressed forward, searching for any Walter automaton, but only saw Rabbit, who was bobbing happily while chatting once more with Mr. Reed. She turned to look behind her for The Spine, and saw Professor Charles, just catching sight of her. He smiled and put up a hand to wave. She completed the turn as though she hadn’t noticed and rushed to Rabbit.

“Have you seen The Spine?” she whispered fiercely. “He asked for the first dance and…”

“Oh, those piranha ladies have him somewhere. I hope he can keep his hands moving fast enough to keep them all off. Not sure what they think a robut can do for them… I mean... yeah. Well, if he's not here by the time...”

Eddie Reed stood and announced that the dancing would begin, and the band began to play.

“That's it! Too late!” cried Rabbit triumphantly. “The Spine can get the next one. He ain’t here, I am. Shall we?”

Thinking of Professor Charles, she eagerly took the hand he offered and they stepped onto the dance floor, alone at first. Some of the crowd murmured at the sight of a robot dancing with a woman, both with astonishment and later admiration as they observed Rabbit's graceful steps. He still made it seem easy, and it looked as though she was equally skilled as a result. Others quickly followed and soon they were moving inconspicuously around the dance floor in a crowd of dancers.

“Say, yehr shakin’, baby,” Rabbit murmured as he led. “And here I thought you were gettin’ over me.”

“Why, Rabbit!” she cried, her cheek twitching in a reluctant smile. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice the change. Ya stabbed me to the heart, baby.” He winked. “It was pretty flattering, having a girl thinking she wanted me to be her mate for life. Makes a guy feel like he's really somethin'."

"You are really something," she said, admiring his cheek plates once more. She'd always liked curliques.

"Yeah, people are always saying I'm somethin', but maybe not the same somethin' yehr thinkin' of!" He grinned mischievously. "Anyway, I couldn't help noticing yehr so much calmer now. Trust Pappy to figure out how to fix it... You don't get all twitchy now. Say, hadn’t you noticed?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it lately, what with all the things that have been going on,” she replied thoughtfully. It was true; the tingles were gone, and while she was content here with Rabbit, she was not elated... Come to think of it, he almost felt like... like...

A brother. She looked up at him in wonder. How was it possible?

“Well, I've been thinking about it," he was saying. "You're nice and calm with me now, just like you are with The Jon and Hatchy. I like it. You don't start swooning and setting things on fire. That was pretty exciting, mind you, but you were always running off when it was getting interesting. _Now_ you don't get nervous at all! Well..." He grinned roguishly. "Not around _me_ , anyhow.”

She raised an eyebrow. He winked again.

“You didn’t notice that either, hm?” he asked.

“Rabbit… what...”

“The Spine’s more your type than I am, anyway.”

“Really!” she cried indignantly.

“Now don’t get yehr panties in a… sorry. But…”

“It’s absurd! It’s established fact that imprinting is a singular event… Maybe the Colonel has confirmed it can be subdued, but past precedent still suggests that it can’t be shifted or duplicated! If you only knew how much I’ve wished, how I’ve wanted to do it, to transfer it somehow, instead of being imprinted on someone who doesn’t feel the same... How much it makes me ache to think of The Spine having his heart broken but…” Her voice broke and she fell silent, blinking back tears.

He looked searchingly at her. “Are you hearing yourself?” he said gently, leading her around a slow-moving couple. “What kind of scientist b-b-believes what she hears without questioning it?”

“I don’t have much else to go on, you know,” she sulked.

“I’d kiss ya right here to prove you wrong if I could. Last time I did it, though, you didn’t seem thrilled. I bet you don't even react anymore.”

“Well, after all… last time...”

“Y’know what?” he interrupted. “You just think about this. You keep sayin’ you wish you c-c-could love The Spine. But most people don’t carry on like that when someone else likes ‘em and they don't like 'em back. They let ‘em down easy, say ‘time heals all wounds’ and ‘yehr like my brother’ and junk like that. And you keep saying you wish you loved him instead.”

“So?”

“So  which part of you is makin’ the wish? Is it yehr head, or…?”

“Well…” Which was it?

“I thought I saw a couple of little tears in those big reddish brown eyes when you couldn’t find him for this dance…”

“Did you?” she breathed.

A hand landed heavily on Rabbit’s shoulder. He smiled broadly and stopped dancing.

“About time,” he said, turning.

It was Professor Charles.

“May I cut in, my good fellow?” he intoned.

“Um…” Rabbit faltered.

“Of course,” Cornelia said, more gloomily than she’d intended.

If Professor Charles noticed, there was no sign of it. He took her in hand and danced her away from Rabbit, who stood frowning after them.

The dance ended within seconds and a waltz began. Cornelia thought she might cry. The Spine had taught her the waltz... She still didn't see him anywhere. What were those she-wolves doing to him?

“It would seem our dance has been cut short,” Professor Charles said.

“So it would. What a pity,” she replied rather flatly.

“Ah, but if you are unclaimed for this dance, it will do admirably.”

Without The Spine anywhere in evidence, she certainly was. She sighed inwardly and they resumed dancing.

“I was very surprised to see you here, Miss Spot,” he said pleasantly. “I last saw you in Vienna.”

 _Only because I didn’t see you first._ ”Ah, yes.”

“I recall,” he chuckled, “An amusing story you told of another dimension called Kazooland. And now I find you here with another believer. Could it be the two of you are forming your own church, hm? Our Lady of the Interdimensional Portal?”

He chuckled loudly. Her frustration was deepening by the minute.

“I assure you we are doing no such…” she began irritably.

“Oh, don’t take me too seriously, Miss Spot… I recall you had little sense of fun back then, either. I also recall I offered to teach you. Well, perhaps another time. So what do you think of Walter’s proposal? I’m not sure, myself. It seems to me this whole thing would be over much more quickly if he’d just send in those automatons of his…”

“What?”

“Oh, there’s been talk of having him send in these robots. They’ve done it before. They’d end any conflict in no time, don’t you think?”

“But the United States is neutral…”

“We can never keep out of anything for long. Besides, the Cavalcadium is international. If our members are at risk, it only makes sense that we employ every resource to aid them, don’t you think? Isn't that the very think Walter proposed?”

The robots could go to war even if the U.S. wasn’t involved?

“Well, it’s far too pleasant a night for such talk. So tell me… how close have you gotten to these Walter robots? Seen their schematics? I find them rather alarming myself, especially that great silver one...”

“They’re very dear to me,” she said without thinking, her voice trembling with emotion. He laughed heartily.

“Well, I guess I’ve been barking up the wrong tree! No use for flesh and blood men, but metal men get the old steam going, eh, Miss Spot?”

She gasped. This was too much!

A silver-toned hand firmly gripped his shoulder. Professor Charles winced as though the grip was in fact just a little _too_ tight.

“May I cut in, _Professor_ Spot?” The Spine asked in a tone that suggested there wasn’t really another available option.

“I beg your pardon, sir,” she said to Professor Charles, forcing her voice to remain calm despite the waves of relief washing over her. To The Spine, she added, “I believe this was _your_ dance?” Well, one of them was, anyway.

“But…” began the Professor.

“Do forgive me, Professor Spot. I was detained,” murmured The Spine, bowing and kissing her hand.

He nodded curtly to Professor Charles, and swept her into a waltz.

She wanted to ask him how he had escaped the piranha women, but she realized to her frustration that she had allowed the professor to upset her to the point that if she spoke now, she would likely start to cry.

So she danced. He didn’t hold her at arms’ length this time; in fact, he seemed to be holding her closer than usual.

“I’m sorry, Cornelia,” he said at last. “I couldn’t get away until they found dance partners… not without prying them off!”

She giggled, but her eyes filled with tears. He saw before she was able to look away.

“Cornelia? What is it?” he asked worriedly.

"He's even worse than I remembered," she sighed. She didn't want to talk about the war, not just yet. If it was true... no, not right now. Now that she was dancing with him...

She thought about what Rabbit had said. Rabbit was just as inexperienced at matters of love as they were... but he spoke as though he knew a great deal more.

The Spine drew her a little closer. "You're doing very well," he said.

"Thank you."

"I suppose after this one of the others will claim you for the next dance."

Already? "I suppose... But I can save you all the waltzes."

"I'll have to ask Mr. Reed to play more of them, then," he said with a smile.

The room whirled past until the rest of the dancers seemed to blur into one. Just at that moment, she didn't want Mr. Reed to play anything but waltzes...

And then the waltz was done. The dancers clapped politely.

The next song began. She had no idea what sort of dancing would work with it. The Spine was looking around.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The others... I don't see them anywhere."

"You don't?"

"No, wait... I do, there's Hatchworth. And the Jon... Oh... they all have partners already." He looked at her and smiled shyly. "Well, then? Shall we?"

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Professor Charles! He started toward them, his expression inscrutable. Before he had taken more than a few steps, however, a slim copper hand settled on his shoulder... lightly, it seemed at first, until she saw the fabric pucker beneath the fingers. Even as the man's eyes rolled uneasily to the side to look with alarm at his captor, Rabbit looked at Cornelia and nodded toward The Spine, giving an almost imperceptible wink.

"I'd love to," she murmured, looking up at him. They clasped hands once more and The Spine guided her into the right dance; a foxtrot. She was pleased to discover that he danced it every bit as well as he waltzed.

When that song had ended, she was surprised to see The Jon and Rabbit climb onto the bandstand with Mr. Reed.

"Oh, I think we're..." The Spine began, starting toward them. Rabbit shook his head at him very slightly as another band member stood to join them. "What's going on?" he murmured, frowning.

The four of them proceeded to sing, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" in four part harmony. Rabbit looked at the two of them and winked broadly. Cornelia blushed... she was doing that a lot lately.

"I _will_ pull his arms off this time..." The Spine murmured as they finished to enthusiastic applause.

"I'll let you..."

Another waltz followed... a particularly syrupy, romantic arrangement. They turned to one another. Cornelia was suddenly nervous. The Spine appeared no better off.

"Well done, Rabbit," The Spine muttered, gazing down at her. She couldn't tell whether he was pleased or angry. Mostly he just looked frightened.

She knew how he felt. She swallowed, her heart pounding as he held out his hand and pulled her into another waltz.

As nervous as Rabbit's meddling had made her, she had to admit, she was suddenly convinced Rabbit may have had a valid point about the state of her imprinting.

On the other hand, for that same meddling, she was just about ready to turn dragon form and set him on fire.

"I feel like a snake in a glass case..." she said uneasily, her face close to his chest. "They're watching everything we do, aren't they?"

He nodded and rested his chin ever so slightly on her head. "I don't know what Rabbit thinks he's doing," he breathed into her hair, making her shiver.

She knew, but her throat closed off at the very idea of saying it. The music swelled, and she felt pulled with it.

His hand slipped further behind her, drawing her closer. Hers slid around the back of his neck. His fingers entwined with hers where their hands clasped. She felt warm... perhaps a little too warm...

"Are you alright? Your face is flushed..."

"I think... It's very warm in here," she breathed, suddenly dizzy.

"Do you want to sit this one out?"

She nodded. "Could we get some fresh air?"

He led her to the double doors that opened onto the little English garden, taking her hand as they strolled into the darkness.


	17. In the Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title is literal... I'm not referring to a famous nude couple. It's just where they happen to be strolling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried. I said, "Stretch it out a little more." But the night, and the moonlight, and the angsty robot in a tux and white tie... She's only human. Well, no, she's not... But this was going to happen sooner or later. It's always the quiet ones...
> 
> This is not a guarantee of a traditional happy ending. I can only promise it won't be totally unhappy either. There's still quite a ways to go before that, though.

Cornelia wasn’t sure what she’d expected from the ball. Well, she was sure she had expected dancing. She certainly hadn't expected a moonlight stroll with The Spine, but after her encounter with Professor Charles, the crowded atmosphere was far too much to bear.

Still, the night was cool but pleasant, in that curious way early summer nights were in San Diego. And she was walking with her best friend. She felt a slight chill and shivered; her hand contracted slightly in response, tightening on his. The Spine, not understanding, gently squeezed back.

“Do you feel any better?” he asked as they approached the duck pond.

She nodded. “It was stuffy in there.”

"I've never quite understood that expression, but I'll take your word for it."

"I suppose it wouldn't trouble you the same way. Let's just say that it was the company as much as the air that made me feel suffocated."

"Ah. That I can understand. I only wish I'd been able to join you as promised. Then you wouldn't have had to endure his company at all."

"It's alright. The last time I saw him, Rabbit was having a chat with him..."

"Uh-oh... I hope he doesn't break him," he said in a tone that suggested it was all the same to him if he did.

"You're not worried about Rabbit causing a scene?" she asked.

"I was going to if he didn't," he muttered.

She laughed and he squeezed her hand again.

"I guess I know your weakness now," she said teasingly.

"Don't tease... I've had enough of that to last a lifetime. A dragon's lifetime, in fact."

"Poor thing," she said sincerely. "We've both earned a quiet stroll."

He nodded. They stopped to look at the gentle waves in the dim moonlight. She wondered, as they stood in silence, whether to ask him about what Professor Charles had said. If he was right, The Spine and his brothers would be going to war soon. What if he didn’t know yet? Colonel Walter had shown tonight that he could be surprisingly ruthless with his robotic sons when need arose. Would he sign them up for yet another war without informing them? And was it her place to tell them?

What stopped her from speaking was not the fear of speaking out of turn, however. It was her desire to salvage something of the evening, some joy from her first real ball. She felt a stab of selfish guilt but realized that it would also mean not spoiling his evening… and that made her feel a bit better.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something…” he said quietly.

“What is it?”

“It's something I've actually been avoiding for quite a while, but… how is the experiment going for you?”

She was surprised. What a place to discuss science! But then, until recently, she’d been willing to discuss science anywhere.

“It’s fine… But what do you mean? It's all in my notes... don't you read them?”

He laughed faintly. “No.”

“I’m surprised, Spine. I thought you were our lab partner… you’ve always read the lab notes before. Colonel Walter reads them.”

“Yes, he does, as I did back when the lab notes didn’t involve your personal feelings and emotions.”

“Oh…” That did make a difference.

“Surely... surely you didn’t think I was comfortable reading about... well, to be honest, about how you feel about Rabbit?”

“No, I suppose not," she murmured, feeling terrible. "But… well, what did you want to know, then?”

“I was just wondering whether it was… Whether it's been a success, or at least whether there have been any changes.”

She remembered her conversation with Rabbit. “One… there has been one change.”

“Just one?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Oh. Might I ask what it is? That is, if you’re comfortable answering... you don't have to say, truly, I do understand...”

“Spine! I know I don't have to answer. I want to answer."

"Oh."

She realized, though, the effect her news was likely to have on him. She took a deep breath. “It’s about the imprinting.”

“Alright.” His eyes were fixed upon the pond in a determined sort of way, as though bracing himself for bad news. He held her hand in both of his, slowly rubbing his thumb nervously across the back of her fingers. It felt nice.

“The fact is that I think…  I think the imprinting is gone.”

His thumb froze in mid stroke. She heard the hiss of steam in the dim light and looked up. He still looked out at the pond, but his mouth hung slack.

“Spine?”

“It’s wh-wh-what…” he faltered.

“Gone.”

"Gone?" Just gone?"

"I'm almost positive that it is."

He tried to speak but failed. “B-b-b-b-b…”

“Spine!” she cried, alarmed.

He stopped and looked at her at last. “J-just like that?” he said in almost a squeak.

“Just like what? It hasn’t been easy these six months!” she cried, still unnerved by the loop he had been in.

“No! It hasn’t… I’m sorry, of course. It’s been so rough for you, hasn’t it?”

 _And you, too_ … She sighed. “Don’t be sorry. Yes, it's gone. It would seem that the imprinting settled and slowly resolved just like your father hypothesized. I had a rather hard time noticing, what with the way you and Rabbit continually bickered..."

"I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize. We both know Rabbit usually starts it."

"I won't deny that..."

"Anyway, I had felt a great deal more relaxed around Rabbit but it wasn’t until he pointed it out that I realized I really didn't feel the compulsion.”

“He pointed it out? When?”

“During our dance this evening…”

“Then… all that nonsense in there… He knew then, and jumped through hoops to draw us together, and in public, too." He groaned. "The idiot!”

“What?”

“He just takes it upon himself… I’m sorry, Cornelia, if I had known what he was up to… I would never have let him try to push you into my a-arms! I had no idea he would scheme so.”

“He wasn’t scheming!” she laughed. “He sincerely thought he was just helping… He's convinced that I want to be in your arms..." She swallowed. Actually... "And that I just need a little help... But no one tried to force me to do anything, did they?”

“No, I suppose not.” He vented a little more steam and went back to stroking her hand. She shivered.

“Are you cold?”

“No.” She was a little, but that wasn’t why she’d shivered.

“Then why did you shiver?” He looked down at their hands. “Oh… does this bother you?”

“Not at all. It’s quite nice.”

“Oh,” he murmured, turning back toward the pond. He slid his fingertips up to her wrist. She shivered again.

“I’ve never really understood shivers either,” he said. “I can feel sensations, messages to the brain. I feel something like pain, and it feels nice to be hugged. Your skin feels nice… I mean, the skin on your hand…”

She fought the urge to giggle. “I understand. But you never shiver?”

“I don’t think so… what causes it?”

“Well, cold, light touch, emotions sometimes. Illness, too. Fevers.”

“You don’t have a fever. I can detect temperatures and yours hasn’t changed.”

“Can you really?” She hadn’t known that.

“There’s a thermometer in my right middle finger,” he explained, tracing a lazy spiral on the back of her hand. “I use it to check beverage temperature… although it’s important to do that out of view of the recipient…”

She laughed. He beamed at her.

“You have a nice laugh.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome," he said. "So… if you aren’t cold…”

“Well, I am a little…”

“Oh!” He let go of her hand and unbuttoned his jacket.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to…”

“I want to. It isn’t as if I need it…”

He slid the jacket over her shoulders, reaching around her back to adjust it. She felt his hand softly pass across the back of her neck as he did so, making her hair stand on end as he pulled the front together around her. It was enormous.

“Well, it’s not a very good fit, but it should be warm from my boiler…”

“It is,” she breathed. It felt lovely… like being wrapped in an embrace... “I suppose we should go back before they come looking for us…”

“Or we could hide,” he said, grinning.

“Would you, really?”

“No,” he chuckled. “Rabbit would tear the countryside apart if only to prove I can’t get the better of him.”

“Oh, Rabbit,” she said with a sigh. “You’re right, that’s just like him.”

“Yes it is. You... you're still very fond of him, aren't you?"

"Well, of course. I'm fond of all of you..."

"Yes, but... Cornelia… I do have to ask you… now that it’s gone, the imprinting I mean… do you… do you care for him? Do you love Rabbit?”

What? She looked at him with wide eyes. “I love all of you…”

“I know… But I _think_ you know what I mean.”

“I thought I did... love him, I mean… I was so in awe when I arrived here... especially with him. It felt so vivid, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I was… dazzled, I think.”

“By Rabbit?” He couldn’t hide his astonishment.

“There you go, being human again. Siblings can never see what is attractive in each other. That’s best, of course. Well, yes, by _Rabbit_. He really is dazzling... he has a strong personality, he's funny, but he has kindness beneath his mischief. He, like all of you, is an amazing creation, yet so human, so beautifully crafted and yet so beautifully flawed…”

“Alright," he interrupted quickly. "You’ve made your point…” He turned away from the pond. “I won’t ask again.”

“Spine?”

He was looking down at his feet. “I only hope he realizes someday what he has and comes to appreciate you. We should get back to the house.” He held out his arm without looking at her.

“Wait!” she cried, suddenly dismayed. His face… the look on his face! And he hadn’t heard her out, he didn’t know what she was trying to say… it was something so important but... What was she trying to say? She realized it was whatever it took to take that look of heartbreak off of his face. The truth, plain and honest, before this moment got away.

“I’m not in love with Rabbit!” she cried.

His arm slowly dropped to his side. He stared at her as though she'd grown another head.

“Aren’t you? Not at all?”

“I love him, of course. I love all of you. But… somewhere along the way he’s become like my brother… a petulant, sulky, playful and charming brother… but that’s all!”

His eyes fixed on hers. “Truly, Cornelia?”

“Absolutely!”

A huge smile spread across his face. “Oh! I’m so glad! I mean, I am glad you are well and truly clear of it…”

“I am. Thank you,” she replied, almost weeping with relief. At least the most important part was spoken...

“Well…" he said, eyes bright... literally. "I'm not sure what to say... I-I guess we should still get back,” he said, holding his arm out once more. “While there are still some dances left.”

“Waltzes, you mean?” she asked with a tiny wink.

He beamed at her. "Any dance they play will do."

She reached up to take his arm and stopped, laughing. Her arm was entirely engulfed in his long sleeve!

“I think you’d better have this back…” she giggled.

“I think so, yes. If we’re going to dance anymore tonight… And I can't think of any better way to spend this evening.”

She slipped out of the jacket and did her best, from her lower vantage, to help him into it. He shrugged it into place and buttoned it.

“How do I look?” he asked.

“As wonderful as ever,” she told him sincerely.

He smiled as she took his arm.

“I only wish I didn’t have to share the dances... with Rabbit and the others, I mean,” he murmured. “And If that lecherous swine bothers you again…”

“I don’t think he will. Remember?” she said.

“Oh, yes. Good… because if he does…”

“You’ll keep your hands to yourself and not get into trouble and spoil our evening?”

“Yes. Of course,” he said meekly.

“Good man.”

"Although..."

"Yes?"

“I did have one more question before we get too close…”

“Alright.”

“Something else that's been on my mind... When I was sick… malfunctioning…”

Uh oh… she hadn’t expected this. “Don’t you ever do it again either…” she interrupted hastily.

“Of course not! No… but… Well, I could have sworn that before Father shut me off something touched my lips…”

He didn’t know? She was sure he had remembered.

"Did you... see anything that might have done it?" she asked hesitantly.

“No. My eyes weren’t functioning properly at that point. I thought for a while that maybe… well, I’m just afraid I might have made a fool of myself since then. I've been acting rather silly because I thought maybe... you had kissed me.”

“Ah…”

“Well… was I wrong?”

“No, you were quite right.”

“Oh!”

They had reached the little English garden. He stopped and turned to her. “Then I’m afraid I have one more question… something I need to know... when you said Rabbit is like your brother…”

“Yes?”

“Well?” he said nervously, and she saw at last that his air of calm was far from the truth. “What am I to you, Cornelia?”

“You… well…”

"I hate to burden you with this, but with things the way they are... well, I just need to know this... to know whether..."

She didn't want to give him false hope. "Spine... I don't... I don't know..."

“Please!” he begged, clutching at her hands. “Please tell me. I... I’ve been fool enough to allow myself to hope once more… If there's no chance, tell me now so that I can start to adjust to it. _Please..._ ”

Well, so much for that. If he already hoped, she would have to find a way to prepare him... just in case... She looked up into his face, her heart thumping at the pain she saw there. He had been through so much already, but she still wasn’t sure… She had been so attached to Rabbit, for whatever reason. She didn’t like to seem fickle…

But as she looked up at him, her heart pounding, she remembered all he was to her, all the things that Rabbit wasn’t. Her very best friend. He had walked with her and just talked. He had held her while she slept. He had watched over her, protected her, loved her without expecting anything for it. He certainly hadn’t expected her to return his feelings.

 _The universe if full of surprises,_ she realized. She didn't know what she was feeling for him... but she knew what it wasn't... it wasn't what she had felt for Rabbit before, and it wasn't what she was feeling for Rabbit now.

“You’re… _not_ like a brother,” she said slowly.

“Cornelia!” he cried in exasperation.

“Just think about it, though…” she murmured soothingly.

He stared at her in anguish for a moment before his expression softened. “Then… you’re saying there’s a chance…”

“It’s a bit new, but, yes. I wish I could promise…”

“No, no that’s… that’s remarkable enough for now. Oh, Cornelia," he cried, his voice trembling, "it’s staggering!”

“Is it really?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes… just a few months ago I thought you were in love with Rabbit... I thought there was no way you could ever care for me. I started out this evening expecting you to dance all night with Rabbit. I thought he might even have been developing some feelings for you…”

She had no idea where he’d gotten that idea. But she was delighted to note how little it affected her.

“Now there's a chance that you might someday... well, I'll stop. I know you didn't want to make any promises. But Cornelia… there's one last thing... I don't want to seem fresh, and I hope I’m not presuming too much in asking this…”

“I don’t know. You told me you only had one more question and here we are how many questions later?” she said, teasing in spite of herself. He really was very easy to tease...

He smiled sheepishly. “I promise this time. I was just wondering… whether I could..." He stopped.

"Go on..."

He looked into her eyes and whispered, "Whether you would allow me to kiss you.”

“Oh!” she gasped.

“If you want to slap my face… Well, just tell me and I’ll slap my own so you don’t hurt yourself.”

“Oh…” she murmured, stepping closer, “please do… no, I don’t mean slap yourself!” She giggled nervously.

He was still holding her hands. He pulled her slowly toward him. “You mean…”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “You _may_ kiss me...”

He leaned toward her... and stopped.

“Won’t this hurt your neck?” he asked, looking down at her.

“You _are_ very tall... It might be a bit awkward, now that you mention it.”

“I think I have a solution. May I?”

She nodded and all at once he lifted her in his arms.

"Oh!" she cried, startled. She threw her arms around his neck hastily.

“Much better,” he sighed.

“Yes, it is…” she breathed, heart racing. Their faces were much closer now...

But he didn't kiss her. “You know, I’ve always wanted to do this…” he whispered.

“This exactly?” she asked, settling against his shoulder. She'd expected him to feel hard, like, well, metal. Somehow he just felt like a man... though she realized that she had little experience in this...

“Lift a beautiful woman in my arms? Yes… ever since I saw it in a book, at least. Of course, there was more to it. This was always part of it.”

He leaned toward her, eyes half closed.

“The Spiiiine!”

“Jon…” he gulped unhappily, lips close to hers. She could feel the steam against her face.

_FLUTTER._

The Jon trotted up and tugged at The Spine's tuxedo. “Rabbit says take all the time you want with Stella. That Professor guy left after Rabbit made him cry.”

“What?”

“You can go ahead and kiss now. Be gentle; she's not made of metal. See you.”

Jon strolled nonchalantly back around the hedge and inside.

“Oh, Jon,” Cornelia said. "Well... you heard him..."

He smiled. "I did..."

His eyes rested on hers for a moment, then drifted to her lips. With a sigh, she tipped her head up toward his and was met halfway.

The garden seemed to flip upside down. The tingles she had gotten from being near Rabbit were weak and insignificant compared to this. She could swear she felt electricity arc through her. _Where had he learned to do this?_ Surely not from one of those terrible flirts... but he knew, to be sure, more about it than Rabbit had... 

She was trembling... no wait... he was! His fingers curled into the delicate fabric of her dress and his whole body shuddered. She hoped it wasn't a malfunction...

He gasped into her lips, “That was what you meant!”

“What?” she asked, leaning away. _I hope my dress doesn't catch fire._ She didn't smell any smoke...

“Shivers! I got shivers! I can still feel them… I don't understand...”

“You need more data, then," she whispered, relieved, eyes fixed on his. "We'll have to repeat the experiment."

He smiled and angled his head towards her.

 _I love science,_ she thought as his lips caressed hers once more.

Silence except for the sound of distant music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND it's not going to stay mushy gushy. Not this much, anyhow. That's just one particular dynamic. So if it's not your thing, don't worry...


	18. Flutters and Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She'd thought everything was in place, but nothing is ever that simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how often I'll add to this, but add I will. I hadn't realized it had been almost a year! That last chapter was tough to follow. But as you begin this one, I remind you that it is NOT a smut fic. There may be some doubt later in the chapter... so I thought I'd let you know. The first setting of the story is close to being changed... and that's going to be tricky enough without any fivesomes happening. Not that I would ever try that anyway! *blush*

The meeting was a success. Colonel Walter Reported that he had received an excellent response overall, despite the few naysayers and the troublesome influence of Professor Charles. Many had witnessed the stare-down between him and Rabbit and few were sorry to see the overbearing gentlemen tremble and flee; he was not particularly popular among his colleagues.

The Spine and Cornelia returned to the dance several minutes after The Jon, their clothes carefully tidied... but those who noticed their entrance couldn't help noting that The Spine was emitting rather more steam than was usual and Cornelia was visibly flushed. The responses ranged from shock to amusement to scientific curiosity. But Rabbit chose the same moment to stroll conspicuously up to the pair of them, forestalling any intrusive questions.

"Everything good?" he asked casually.

"It is, no thanks to you..." The Spine said.

"What? You'd yell at Cupid? I helped!"

"You put Cornelia in a very awkward position, Rabbit!"

Rabbit smirked. "Oh, yeah? That why she's pink as a baby's bottom?"

"Rabbit..."

"Oh, Spine, nice lip rouge..."

The Spine hastily wiped his mouth. Cornelia shook her head as Rabbit cackled.

"I wasn't wearing any, Spine..." she told him quietly.

The Spine closed his eyes and sighed, "Would you like another walk?"

"Nah, Pappy wants us in here, buddy," Rabbit said. "Dance with her again. They won't talk any more than they already have."

The Spine opened his eyes. Cornelia smiled up at him. "Please... I want to dance more."

"Alright," he said gently.

He led her onto the dance floor, stopping to flick a dirty look at Rabbit, who grinned back.

As they danced, The Jon waltzed gracefully up to them and said, "I get next dance, Stella!"

"Alright!" she giggled as he waltzed away.

"He didn't have a partner..." The Spine said blankly.

"Aren't you used to him by now?"

"Never. He always finds a way to surprise me... just like Rabbit."

"Good. I don't want you to ever stop having new experiences."

"I'd be happy living this night over and over. It would feel new every time I did it."

"I think you'd get tired of it eventually. Especially those flirts."

"It would be worth it every time to relive our walk," he murmured, looking into her eyes.

_Flutter._

"Yes... it would..."

He grinned and she felt warm all over.

The dance ended and Jon hurried up and took her by the hand, pulling her onto the dance floor.

"Gently, Jon!" cried The Spine as they rushed away.

"Goodness, Jon! Why so eager?" she gasped.

"I haven't danced with you yet! Besides, I asked Eddie for a special request..."

The music began. The Jon struck a familiar pose, hand extended, looking up at her with a serious expression... and a little twinkle in his eye. The band was playing a tango.

The dance floor cleared around them. She heard Rabbit cry, "Darn it, Jon!" Jon ignored him.

Cornelia smiled and took Jon's hand. "Remember the steps," he murmured, pulling her close. "This is gonna be fun!"

He led her around the floor as the entire crowd stood and watched. She found herself laughing more than once. Jon was a marvelous dancer, guiding her and covering for her mistakes, making them look intentional. They finished their dance face to face, laughing, Cornelia gasping for breath but delighted all the same.

"I could kiss you like this," he said softly.

 _Flutter._ She was confused. Hadn't he just told The Spine to kiss her?

He smiled. "But I know I'm not the one you love best."

"Jon..."

"Don't worry. I love everyone, Stella. But The Spine _needs_ you."

Was that the only thing holding Jon back? What was he saying?

"I'm sorry, Stella. Forget I said it, okay? Oh, by the way," he added, breaking his stance and leading her back to The Spine. "If Hatchy doesn't get at least one Castle Walk, he's gonna have a fit."

"Oh!" she murmured, still dizzy and muddled.

"Better get some punch first. You look all in." He pressed her hand into The Spine's and walked away whistling as the dance floor filled once more for a foxtrot. The Spine stared after him, scowling.

"Not jealous, are you?" she asked, worried.

"Of Jon?" he cried, his voice a little shrill. "The idea!"

"Oh, good..." she said faintly. He looked at her sharply.

"Oh! Yes, come on, you need something to drink and a little rest." He led her toward the punch table.

"Yes. I must dance with Hatchworth later, though. He wants his Castle Walk."

The Spine smiled and handed her a crystal punch glass. "Of course. I'm more worried about Three claiming a dance."

"Oh?"

"He might not give you back."

"He doesn't have the final say on that," she murmured, sipping her punch. "And if I can't get away, for some reason, I expect you to come to my rescue."

"You don't need my help, Cornelia."

"I want it. I can't turn into a dragon here to defend myself. I would need someone to interfere in my behalf so that no one knows I'm not just a frail human woman."

"In that case, it would be my pleasure," he said, smiling.

They danced two more dances before Hatchworth found them. He smiled with a childlike eagerness.

"Stella! I have not had a proper partner all the evening. None of these ladies knows the modern dances. Come and let us show them the cords."

"Ropes, dummins," Rabbit said, strolling past with his latest partner.

Cornelia nodded to The Spine, who nodded back; Jon may have seemed like a rival, but not Hatchworth.

The music began. He led her smoothly in the dance, saying nothing. She thought of their lessons together, how different he was while dancing. His childishness seemed to vanish then... he was tall and strong and careful, almost cradling her in his arms and catching her when she stumbled. Even now she saw it as he led, looking down at her from time to time with what she swore was affection, his pasted on smile seeming less rote and more genuine feeling.

"I have been hoping to dance with you all evening," he said softly, and she shivered slightly. She hadn't realized he could sound so... human.

"It's been marvelous fun," she said lightly, "but I would have been very sorry not to dance with you at least once."

"Would you, Stella?" he murmured.

"Why, yes..." She looked up and saw that he was looking at her steadily, eyes fixed on hers. The effect was almost hypnotic. They were so blue...

"So would I," he replied, leading her carefully around other couples.

Yes, he definitely felt older now... and less robotic. He was built from a stove but seemed so human; Walter had explained that he'd managed to streamline the body of the stove after the war and shape it more like a man's body. She felt the joints and seams under her hands... she cherished every bolt in his chassis... just like the others.

"The Jon told me I had to wait for my dance," he said. "Because you were in the garden with The Spine."

"Oh, yes... we were... walking..."

"The Jon said The Spine was getting his kiss..."

Oh, dear. "Well..."

"It is alright, little Stella. He cares for you very much. As do we all."

"Possibly not _exactly_ as you all do, Hatchworth," she said, relieved that he had not thrown another tantrum. But that seemed unsuitable for him tonight, dashing as he was in his formal suit...

"And you care for him?"

"Why, yes..."

"As you do for all of us?"

Her heart gave a painful thump. He could sometimes perceive things beyond the tangible, as Jon could. He had done so now. His eyes were still fixed on hers...

"I think perhaps you already know the answer... but it is different with The Spine, Hatchworth. It's... it has more layers, I think."

He smiled kindly and murmured, "Just as long as you care, Stella."

The dance ended. Hatchworth took her hand.

"Possibly one day you will let _me_ have another kiss. Until then, I kiss only your hand."

"I don't... do not..." she gasped as she felt the tickle of his remarkable mustache on her skin.

"Thank you for the dance, friendo." He smiled warmly and turned to stroll slowly away, not looking back. He cut a sharp figure in that suit...

 _Flutter._ She felt the strongest urge to punch herself in the chest. _Hatchy... I do care for you... all of you... it isn't right but so help me..._

Rabbit sent a shiver up her spine when he sidled up to her, slipped his arm around her waist and said with a grin, "My turn! It's all safe now, ain't it?"

"What is?" she asked almost wearily.

"Quick, Spine's comin'!"

"What?"

It had all gotten so simple after being so complicated... and now it was complicated again! The Spine had been so lovely in the garden... she was almost sure she really did love him best of all and yet... Jon... well, he was always that way, so warm and gentle... he embraced everyone he met, just as Colonel Walter had told her. Hatchworth... what could he possibly know about it, though? He was so simple... she had thought. And yet for a moment... he could almost have swept her off her feet.

And now, Rabbit... As he took her hand and swept her into a dance, she felt that same familiar flutter.

The imprinting was gone, yes. But he was still a beautiful thing... so delicate, so finely crafted, his clockwork ticking like a heartbeat, that face, the delicate hands, the flirty grin... Now that she was free to see it, she saw that he was dangerous in his oblivious way. There was just something about that. He still had no idea how he attracted her, despite everything.

He winked at her playfully and whispered into her ear, "Spine's jealous, look at him!"

She didn't have the heart to look. Her hair was standing on end from the steamy whisper in her ear. She willed herself to act casual and calm... but inside was the turmoil of realizing that though she had been imprinted for a time, that first reaction to Rabbit in the library had been infatuation, plain and simple.

The only comfort, as he at last led her back to The Spine, was that the flutter, that same heart flutter that she had just felt for each of the others, was no less strong when The Spine smiled at her and took her hand for the next waltz. And along with that flutter came a deep warmth... she cared about the others but it was deeper with The Spine... he made her heart skip a beat but he had also become her friend, colleague...

And it was clear he was eager to become her lover. Her heart slammed into her ribs at the thought. She knew he couldn't do so in the traditional manner, but she had the feeling he was open to ideas. He wanted so much to be human...

She looked up into his gleaming green eyes, looking at her so seriously, and resolved that, whatever flutters and feelings she might feel from the other robots, The Spine would be the one to receive her affections... as much in the physical sense as propriety allowed. This she would master, or give up and leave forever.

He flashed his shy smile once more as they moved into the dance and she felt a deep relief... Yes, it was more with him, so much more.

 

The dance broke up at last and Cornelia retired to bed after The Spine walked her to her room, stealing one more kiss before she closed her door. Well, he called it stealing; amusing, considering he asked first.

Cornelia barely managed to drag out of her party dress before sinking onto the bed. She had never taken much interest in romance in her human form and here she was, science all but forgotten, touching her lips gently as she remembered the curious feel of his artificial lips. Dragons didn't kiss... but she liked it very much. She couldn't imagine kissing a real human. How squishy it would be!

She fell asleep thinking of human touch, and the various other forms they used to express their affection.

The weeks that followed saw her completing the experiment with Rabbit. As the days passed, it became easier to sit beside him without being too deeply affected. After all, The Spine still sat across from them, reading. His choices of literature had changed... including romantic novels and swashbuckling adventures. Colonel Walter passed by with a look of bemusement when The Spine sat engrossed in Madame Bovary. And when Rabbit, despite the ever shorter times he was asked to sit, happened to get bored and bait him, The Spine would look at Cornelia and wink. Rabbit often ended up slumped in his seat with his head tipped back, groaning softly and tapping out a rhythm on the chair to entertain himself.

Jon and Hatchworth resumed their roles as little brothers, leading her to wonder whether the romance of the evening had tainted her perceptions. But then Jon would look at her for just a little too long, or Hatchworth would kiss her hand again... and just as surely as one of them would confuse her, The Spine would come along and walk with her, slipping into the shadows for just a moment for a kiss, as though their romance was a secret he wanted to hide. It was certain the whole manor knew. And before July had passed away, she was certain that she loved him.

And then everything shattered.

 

It wasn't any one thing. It was in fact two discoveries and a message.

Cornelia, in studying alone in the lab on afternoon, made a break-through in recreating the conditions of her first portal and was sure she could replicate it at last. Her elation was marred by the sudden stabbing dread that this meant she had to leave The Spine. And that same dread thrilled her... she hadn't thought first of Rabbit, Jon, Hatchworth, of Walter Manor. Her first thought had been of him.

And it was enough to settle her mind about a course of action she had been considering for some time. She would open the portal, record her data... and stay with him. She could continue her science here quite admirably... and they could live out their lives together for as long as they lasted. She didn't know what was ahead for them, a robot and a dragon in love, but he had begun to hint at more, and she was beginning to wonder what he had in mind. She was sure he had read one romance novel too many... How could either of them engage in... because anatomically speaking, even she didn't have human anatomy beyond the surface, as it was up to her to form it and she had never seen fit to learn how... well, she would just have to ask him sometime when they were alone.

She went to find Col. Walter. He and the robots were outside a great deal now that the weather was very warm.

When she found them, they were testing their weapons. She had understood that most of the weapons had been removed or deactivated. Yet here they were, The Jon firing his guns, Rabbit shooting little blasts of light from his eyes, The Spine with his arm arcing with electricity, and Hatchworth... far removed, aiming a cannon from his chest at a pile of rock.

Cornelia stared at them, her mouth hanging open. She'd gone numb. She had actually managed, for a little while, to forget. In the arms of her lover she'd forgotten all about the chance of them going to war. She never had expected herself to slip so far.

She wanted to scream at all of them. Surely they didn't think they'd escape unscathed just because they were robots. Even if they came out of the war intact physically, what would happen to them inside? Each was a tender spirit to her... Rabbit could likely endure and come through with a smirk on his face, but the others! Hatchworth still couldn't rest because of the last one! Jon... he was never built to harm anyone. Seeing guns firing from his arms... so opposite to his nature. And The Spine... here she had to admit, he had the strength, the intellect, the self-command... but also the tenderness, the kindness... and above all, even above the other three... she just couldn't bear the thought of losing him!

Before she knew it, her clothes lay in flames and she stood, roaring her outrage, wings spread. Colonel Walter turned in alarm to see her staring him down.

"Cornelia, stop!" cried The Spine, running in between them.

She stared into his frightened eyes, so different now from when he had caressed her cheek just a few hours before and kissed her softly in the little garden.

"I know... we should have told you..." he said carefully, arms raised in pacifying gesture. "I knew you'd be so upset..."

She stood, panting, holding back her fire, wanting to scream. She couldn't even change back and give them a piece of her mind!

Jon ran in carrying The Spine's jacket, easily the largest out of all of them. "It's okay! Change back, I'll cover you..."

The Spine snatched his jacket and The Jon looked sheepish. Cornelia trembled... she was too angry to even try to resume her human form! She turned and trotted away across the grounds. The Spine started to run after her.

"Cornelia! You can't just run around like that! It's too dangerous!"

Dangerous? He had the stupid audacity to talk about danger when he was planning to put himself in the path of artillery... He was armored, not invincible! She turned her head rapidly and growled at him in no uncertain terms. He stopped short.

She hastily turned her head forward, away from the look of hurt on his face, and ran off into the trees. She could hear, with her sharp hearing, Rabbit telling The Spine to just let her cool off. She wondered if he really thought that would happen any time soon.

She tried to keep away from the fenced areas of the grounds as she paced, hoping no one saw fit to cut across Walter property. But she was so distressed, she couldn't keep still! Right under her very nose, they had been making preparations. And in that time, in every shadowy embrace and lingering kiss, The Spine had never seen fit to let her in on the secret. As if she was to be protected... or was not to be trusted! Every time she calmed down she got angry all over again.

But in time she grew hungry and weary of roaming around the undergrowth. She decided the best thing was to at least head back to the little pen where she would be concealed, and maybe they would look for her there and bring clothing... She was a prisoner in this form.

When she arrived at the pen, The Spine was waiting. He was slumped against the inside wall, in stasis, holding a dress on his lap. The idiot, she thought. It was rather late... She supposed he must have worried about her, but to sit outside where moisture could get into his joints...

As she entered the pen, his boiler buzzed into activity. He blinked and looked at her. "Cornelia! I was so worried! He-here... I'll put this into the cabana..."

He did so and turned away, as usual, so that she could transform. She sighed gruffly and changed into a human. She walked past him and hesitated. As angry as she was, there was something about this. They were alone and nudity for her was usual... though human skin was so delicate. Even so, she only observed the proprieties because they were proprieties; human social mores. If she hadn't been more inclined to chew him out, and that was still in the offing, she might have been tempted to slip up behind him and put her arms around him. Even if neither of them could act on it, it would have been fun.

But not now. She had woken up. Much as she loved him, all of them, she couldn't go on playing house while they went to a very real war.

"When?" she asked abruptly.

"What? Are you dressed...?"

He started to turn.

"No. I'm not."

He froze. "Cornelia! You must..."

"Must what? Observe the proprieties and niceties of the world you live in while you dismiss me and leave me to become just another woman of the house? Would you marry me, give me a child, leave me to raise it alone? You would, if it were possible. Wouldn't you?"

He as silent for a moment. "I wouldn't leave you to raise it alone."

"Is that the only part you would change? Do you want so much to be a man that you would enjoy his follies as well as his glory? I came here as a scientist. To learn love in the arms of the four of you..."

"What?" he cried.

"Don't misunderstand me," she added hastily. "There are different kinds of love."

"But Rabbit... and Jon... You know Jon has more of an influence on you than you admit! Even Hatchworth sometimes..."

So he had noticed! "And is that what we return to? Romantic rivalries? I love you, in a way I have never loved them, not even Rabbit. Be secure in that, Spine. If things were different, if you were not going to war, had not dismissed me as an intellectual equal the moment I kissed you in the garden..."

"Cornelia... please dress so that we can discuss this..."

"I will in a moment. Had you not done that, I would take you in my arms now, the way I am, and find whatever intimacy two such creatures can achieve, yes, out here in the open, under cover of night... If only with the knowledge that you will be going away..."

Her voice broke. To her shock, he turned then. His eyes were closed. He pulled her into his arms and she, overcome, was too stunned to resist as he held her against him, gently, his hands only touching her back and shoulders.

"Spine!" she gasped. "This... this isn't right..." Her neck felt hot...

"A moment ago you didn't care... I just... I'm so sorry!" he whispered, burying his face in her hair. "I wasn't dismissing you, Cornelia. I wasn't sparing you because you're female. I didn't tell you because I was afraid to see the look on your face... You and I both know that you're no ordinary woman..."

"You think that's a compliment, don't you?" she said breathlessly. "To be elevated above other women. Has your father told Iris?"

"Not yet... that I know of..."

"She's had the strength to be mother to you all these seventeen years. Can she not learn to accept your choices? Or is it that we see reason and none of you want to hear it?"

She felt him stiffen at this. "We're doing this because we believe in it," he said tightly.

She felt a dark satisfaction at having at last gotten a rise out of him. She also felt a little afraid... she was strong in her human form, but he was the strongest of the automatons... but she didn't intend to anger him that much. She just wanted him to show that he understood her anger...

"Then if you believe in it," she pressed, "don't be afraid to defend it!"

"I'm not!"

"I hate what you're doing, but if you believe it to be right, it's not for me to say, is it?"

"Isn't it?" he muttered. "Only I rather thought we had something together that entitled you to have a very definite opinion about it..."

"I do! But not the right to stop you, no matter how much I want to. Much of my outrage stemmed from the belief that the Colonel put you up to it..."

"He didn't! We came to _him_ with the idea!"

"And because... I can scarcely bear to let you all go, knowing you may never return. I am angry, yes. I never wanted to see this day arrive but can accept your choice, and yet I do resent not being told... So many conflicting thoughts! But it would be no easier to let you go if I woke one day to find you gone, without a word. Would it?"

There was a long hiss of steam. "No... I've said I was sorry but you keep going on... Cornelia, please don't be angry with me, I can't face this if I have to face you being angry too..."

His voice shook... His remarkable humanity taking over. She held him tighter and felt his body start to shake. He had certainly come to understand the concept of trembling.

But why was he trembling? He couldn't be cold... Was he crying? Then it hit her... She'd been so caught up in her argument, and the weather was so warm, that she'd actually forgotten she wasn't dressed.

"Oh dear..." she whispered. "We have gotten ourselves in a spot, haven't we?"

"Cornelia," he murmured. That voice... why did he choose to use that one, here while she stood bare in his arms? "Did you mean what you said earlier? About..."

"I know what about!" she gasped. 

He gently stroked her back. "Did you?"

"Does it matter?" she sighed. "We can't, can we? You lack the biological drives as well as the hardware, and I am only human on the outside."

"I can vouch for that... You feel... very human..."

It wasn't fair. She had been in the heat of rage when she said it. Now she was all at once very hot and very cold with fear... She had left herself so vulnerable, not to him so much as her own impulses. For while she didn't have the internal anatomy of a woman, she _did_ have biological drives... One she had previously thought only Rabbit could awaken.

And all those romance novels really had gone to The Spine's head. He slid his hand down her back slowly, as if expecting her to object. She allowed it... For a short time. It felt... very nice. She could almost let him go on with whatever he had in mind...

But when his fingers at last had reached her thigh, she murmured, "No. I wish I _could_ just let myself go, fall into your arms, find some way to make love to you..."

"As far as that goes, Cornelia... I already know how," he breathed. He leaned down and kissed her neck. She almost transformed into a dragon in her shock.

"Oh..." she sighed. How did he know... "No! I _really_ need to keep my head clear!"

He stopped and whispered into her ear, "Would it interest you to know that most biological creatures think more clearly when they are not struggling with sexual impulses? Therefore logically..."

"Yes, biologically speaking, I should follow through and release the accumulated tension! I understand that! And you have no idea how much I want to know what you had in mind, but... Look, I realize my choice goes against scientific reason but I still say no!"

"Alright. Good enough..." he sighed.

She could swear he sounded disappointed. But what could _he_ possibly get from it? She didn't dare ask. He kissed her gently on the lips and let her go so that she could change. She hurried into the cabana and shut the door.

"By the way," he murmured, close to the door. She jumped.

"What is it?"

"We're even."

"Even what?" she said breathlessly, hurrying to get into her dress. There was a dangerous tone to his voice... it awoke a thousand regrets and she was nowhere near out of danger of succumbing to those drives.

"We're even. You saw me without clothes, and now... well..."

She stopped in mid-button, only now realizing that when he had released her and let her go to the cabana, he'd had his eyes open.

"And I'm not apologizing," he added rebelliously.

She surprised herself by smiling helplessly as she resumed dressing. To The Spine, however, she prudently said nothing.

 

And when they returned to the manor, Cornelia found a letter waiting. Before she could even see the name of the party who had sent it, she was caught in the arms of one... no, two... no, three automatons!

"We are sorry, little Stella!" cried Hatchworth.

"We didn't wanna lie to ya, but Pappy said you'd be upset..." Rabbit added.

"Sorry... you're not angry anymore though..." Jon murmured, somewhere near her shoulder. "That was a close one, wasn't it? Why did you stop him? He really does know how to..."

"Um, Jon... heh... I'm just worried about you all," she said hastily. Know how to what? Of course she knew, but why would The Spine know such a thing? And why did Jon have to be so free with that information?

"He reads a lot. Oh... sorry..."

"Hush, Jon," The Spine murmured. "Cornelia understands why we've decided to go to the war..."

"I never said that," she sighed from the middle of the hug. She liked it but there was a greater pain marring it now. Would she lose this forever? "But I believe that you have chosen it as the right thing to do. I therefore charge all of you to come back intact or you will break my heart as well as your family's."

She heard a chorus of pained robot voices groan, "Aw, Stella!" all around her.

"I mean it."

She was freed at last. The Spine kissed her warmly, this time out in the open. She supposed after seeing her naked and well nigh making love to her, he felt less sheepish about a kiss. How he had changed since she had arrived!

She turned to wish the others goodnight and got a quick wink from Jon, a leer from Rabbit and a slightly crestfallen look from Hatchworth; she supposed he was still hoping for another proper kiss himself. Well, she could at least give them each one when they had to leave, damn the proprieties...

She felt both thrilled and crushed at the thought. A kiss from each... before they left, perhaps forever! But no matter... she would be there when they returned, and God willing, it would be all of them.

In her room, she looked at the slightly crumpled envelope. There was no sender indicated. How strange... She tore it open and gasped at the letter she found.

"Professor Cornelia Spot," it read. "Or whatever your true name is, we know who you are! Or should it be, that we know _what_ you are? The Walter automatons have made themselves a conquest indeed... four lovers to one dragon! Your precious Cavalcadium does not yet know, either about your species or your filthy dalliances, but rest assured, they will, if you do not comply with our instructions. You have a day to ponder what this will meant to you before we will contact you again. Tell no one."

There was no signature. Cornelia trembled. She couldn't argue with the filthy dalliances... her neck tingled and she wished heartily she'd stayed out there with him rather than come in to this. But she knew she'd have regretted it... or so she told herself. He seemed to shed his propriety by moonlight...

"Spine..." she whispered, "what will become of us now?"

 _Tell no one..._ There was a time when she would have complied because she had no one to tell, no one to turn to... Her noble side, her proud nature, told her to flee their manor, escape and spare them the association. The party, one she strongly suspected she knew, would tell the Cavalcadium and be thought a fool with no evidence.

But there were other indignities that could occur. The other accusations were enough to put them all under the scrutinizing eye of society.

Things were different now. She didn't have to handle it alone anymore. She ran at once to find The Spine, and Colonel Walter.


	19. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to part, though the story isn't over... and though Cornelia loves The Spine dearly, it is a fact that she has become close to all four automatons, and will miss every single one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had intended the Walter Manor part to be shorter, just an impetus for the events to come. But I'm a sucker for a romance and I love these chumps so much that I had to let Cornelia wallow in it for a while.

"No! How could you even suggest such a thing?" Cornelia cried.

"Cornelia, please see reason! The idea that I should ever have to remind you to be sensible... I know you must understand the rationale here."

She seethed... on the inside. She struggled not to do so on the outside or she'd have no dresses left. "I won't go! That's all there is to it!"

"But you said yourself... you've solved it, you can open the portal and return home! I thought that was the prize. I thought this was all about getting you home."

"That _was_ part of it... when I first arrived," she sighed.

The Colonel had been the first one she met when she went for help, and she decided to speak with him in confidence. The Spine would no doubt be furious that she had been threatened, and Rabbit had demonstrated how he responded when anything upset her. And Jon and Hatchworth, well, she didn't have the heart to upset _them_.

But Colonel Walter had immediately insisted she should pass through the portal to Snornia, well away from the threat! A year before, she had dreamed of being able to do so. But a year before, so much had been different! She had been alone, she had no idea of ever being in love, much less with four... well, with The Spine, mostly. She had also counted on being able to come back. She wanted to visit home, yes, not stay.

But then, it really wasn't her home, was it? Walter Manor was her home now.

"But you feel differently now, hm?" he prompted.

"Yes. Very much so," she whispered weakly.

"I'm sorry, my dear. I truly am. If you knew how much I have longed for this, for you to see The Spine as he sees you. And I had thought that things had at last come around right. The Spine would serve in the war and return, and the two of you could carry on as you saw fit with my blessing. Marry, live as humans, be happy together. I truly believed you could, you know."

She saw it in her minds eye for one moment, and it was sweet. Nestled together in that lovely bed they had given her, blankets draped loosely over them, talking about the wonderful ball where she had found she was free to love him... She just as quickly lost the image, seeing only a gleaming portal and empty space. Empty. There was nothing for her in Snornia.

"How can I go? How will I bear it?"

"How do you think he'll feel if you remain here, at risk of broad public exposure, putting us at risk as well? Everyone he loves is here, Cornelia. Everyone they all love. They are willing to brave the war but how can they do it worrying about us all?"

She turned her head away from him and hissed softly, angrily, "You had to put it just that way, didn't you?"

"Yes. I did. I am sorry I cannot be merciful now. I hope you know how desperately I wish I could tell you to stay, and that everything would be alright. But even when the war is over, I see no way you can return. You are found out. If you love The Spine at all, or any of them, you must go as soon as possible."

"I..." She swallowed and said, "I can't just go without telling him."

"Of course. He'll be helping us open the portal."

She glared at him. "How can you be so cruel?"

"Don't forget, m'dear. I would be more cruel to leave without a word, or to refuse to let him help."

"Yes..." She had said the same thing essentially when he was the one leaving. "Sir, is there any way I can persuade you to keep them here instead of sending them to Europe?"

"They wouldn't stay. Even Three keeps talking about running off to Canada to enlist. They want to do their part."

She nodded and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes.  Steeling herself the best she could, she told him, "Very well. Yes. Fine. I'll go."

 

Within the hour, the house had been gathered and told. Hatchworth was sitting and crying frankly and fitfully. Jon was trying to comfort him but kept sighing miserably. Rabbit scowled and kept flicking glances at The Spine, who just sat with his hands folded around his knees. Iris cried quietly and the twins mostly seemed unperturbed. They separated to make preparations. The Spine walked her to her room once more.

"I knew we'd be parting soon, but not this soon," he murmured. "I'm very sorry, Cornelia. I understand now why you were so hurt. I'm glad you've agreed to go back to Snornia, though."

"I have no choice. If it means that you and the others will have one less worry, it has to be done."

He kissed her. How she would miss these new ways of sharing affection! She had never really had ways of doing that before... or maybe she just hadn't had anyone she cared about enough to want to show affection.

"I have to go help Father prepare," he whispered at length, turning to go.

She held onto his hand. He looked at her inquisitively.

"Stay," she murmured.

"What?"

"Stay... There's so little time! I've changed my mind. I want to know what you intended to do earlier, outside."

"I was being impulsive." He smiled. "First time ever besides when I'm beating up Rabbit."

"Don't joke! I want you to... well, whatever it is, I want you to do it."

He shook his head. "It was different then. We had more time."

"It's enough," she whispered as he pulled her gently against him. "I don't want to lose you without..."

"You aren't losing me..." He paused, then breathed into her ear, "Darling Cornelia... I do want to come into your room and not come out until morning. I want to forget the whole world with you and shock the neighbors and make everyone talk... But not something hurried, not like this. I want more than that. I'm past my moment of weakness. As lovely as it was touching your soft skin..." He stroked her cheek and sighed. "How do you get it so soft?"

"I can explain better if you let me show you," she whispered in what she hoped was a seductive tone.

A puff of steam rose from his back and she knew she'd had an effect. But he shook his head. "No, love. I want to wait until we can be together for the rest of our lives. I want you to be mine. I want to be yours. I love you. I won't rush to make love to you and then send you away!"

"We'll never have the rest of our lives together!" she said desperately. "The Colonel says I won't be able to return now I'm found out!"

"I know. I mean that when this is over, I'll come to you. I'll join you there and never leave."

"You don't know what you're promising! It's brutal there..."

"Then we'll go somewhere else! Please, just... he's waiting, we just can't!"

He was weakening. She could have pressed this to her advantage. But he'd made his case and she would hate herself for pushing him into it. Almost as much as she'd hate herself for letting it go.

"Alright," she whispered, when what she really wanted was to kiss him again. "I'll be waiting. The place the Colonel will send me is the location of the Old Dragon's lair. He has a laboratory there, if no one has seen fit to destroy it. If they have, well, I'll build a new one. Come to the same site. Come there as soon as you can!"

And they did kiss now, knowing that later, there would be others present and it wouldn't be the same.

 

Cornelia had never cried so much in her life, even as a whelp. She stood now in the living room with her bags packed, her papers in order thanks to the help of the entire house. She received hugs from Iris, Two, and Three. The Colonel surprised her with one of his own.

"How I still wish... I would have considered you my daughter, m'dear."

"Even though I'm older?" she said, laughing faintly.

"It's all in your perceptions. Well, best say your farewells to the robots."

She knew he understood the significance this held for her. The Colonel went to check of the settings for the portal and Cornelia walked the now familiar halls, seeking her friends.

She started with Hatchworth. He was pacing the room where his box stood.

"It's... it is time," she said, startling him. He looked at her with wide, troubled eyes as she continued, "I... Do not let Rabbit tell you scary stories, Hatchy."

Hatchworth's chin trembled. She put her arms around him.

"Do not start again, now!"

"Stella! You are leaving too soon!"

"I know. I wish I could stay with all of you."

"All of us?" he said with emphasis.

There it was again. These automatons... She leaned back a little and smiled. "All of you, dear Hatchworth," she whispered.

Remembering his wish from the night of the ball, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him soundly on the lips. She had expected it to be brief, but something was different now. Hatchworth held her gently but securely, his whiskers tickling her lips, making no move to part. She heard steam hiss from his stovepipe and almost expected her head to vent steam with it. She realized that before, he hadn't fully understood the significance of a kiss on the lips. And now, poor soul... now, like Cornelia, he had learned.

She drew away at last when she began to feel guilty... for not really wanting it to end herself.

"I am sorry..." whispered Hatchworth.

"No... that was very nice..."

"Yes, it was. It was all I had imagined. I... did say once that I wanted a kiss like The Spine got."

"Oh!" she gasped, blushing.

He turned away. "Go. I will miss you very much."

"Hatch-"

"Please just go."

He slipped into his fort. She watched the wood slat swing for a moment and pressed her hands against the walls, whispering through a crack, "I love you, you know."

"I know," he murmured. "You love all of us."

"But..." What could she say? That she loved each of them just so, that each, without the others, would be her choice? What a horrid thing to tell anyone!

"Goodbye, dear Hatchy," she murmured sadly.

She walked out and down the hall, and soon found Jon walking toward her. He tried to smile but his cheekplates shook and he gave up.

"Stella... this is wrong! You shouldn't have to go!"

"And yet I do."

"Yeah. You really do. To be safe, and to keep us safe. Thank you, Stella. I know your heart is breaking."

"Somehow I think that only you realize how much."

He looked into her eyes. "I think so. But I may be influenced by my own feelings."

Which he had never really bothered to hide. No wonder The Spine had been jealous.

"May I have a kiss, too?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not sure..."

"You don't have to., you know. It probably would make you uncomfortable."

"Would it?" she breathed. It might, but then again... she renembered the delicate touch of his kiss that one fateful day when they had each kissed her. Would today be the same?

He smiled, a sad but surprisingly impish smile. "I'd do my best to, anyway."

He leaned toward her and her heart thumped. But he pulled her into his arms and just held her, his smooth cheek pressed against hers. He turned his head just a little and kissed her warmly... on her cheek, close to her lips, but not quite touching. It was almost more thrilling than a kiss on the mouth!

"Someday, Stella..." he sighed, pressing his forehead against hers,  "if The Spine stops needing you, or doesn't come to you... watch for me."

His words felt like a vicious stab, so unlike him... and at the same time, a breathtaking promise. "Jon... I don't understand!"

"Time to get going, before I kiss you for real."

She almost wished he would! He smiled and winked as she said, "I don't understand you at all! How can three of you care for me this way?"

"Three?"

"Well, The Spine, you, and Hatchy?"

"You forgot one."

"Nonsense." She'd had a lot of surprises, but one thing she was sure of... not Rabbit. He wasn't serious enough to fall for anyone.

"Well, maybe not like us. But he does care. If he could, I think he'd love you more than anyone."

"If he could?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, well... he really doesn't feel that way about flesh and blood creatures, does he?"

She'd seen his face light up whenever he got near the icebox and smiled helplessly. "You're right. He cares in his own way."

"And it's his turn. He's waiting outside the lab. Come on."

He took her arm and walked with her, letting go and walking away when they reached Rabbit.

"Hey, babe!" Rabbit said lightly. "Just wanted to say goodbye without all these mugs ge-ge-gettin' in tha way!"

She looked at him for one quivering moment before giving up and throwing her arms around him.

"How can I do this, Rabbit?" she sobbed.

He patted her awkwardly at first, seemingly unnerved. She supposed she'd frightened him again. But to her surprise, he relaxed in her arms, gently stroking her back, his face pressed into her hair. The steam from his cheek sent chills up her spine.

"Aw, Stella, baby. I know yehr gonna miss him, but someday..."

"Someday what?"

He sighed steamily. "I dunno. I don't got any big answers. I ain't had time to make one up."

"Neither do I."

"Say... Stella, I was thinkin'. You stole a kiss from me and I sto-sto-stole one from you. Don't take this wrong, but... Whaddya say we give 'em back?"

She laughed through her tears. She wanted it too; one kiss to remember, with no painful associations. "I think that would be lovely."

She looked up at him and was surprised to see a fairly embarrassed look on his face. "I do-do-don't know what to do..." he admitted.

"Rabbit! But you did it once!"

"I was bein' a jerk. I don't hafta think about it when I'm bein' a jerk."

"Oh, well... here."

He was tall, like The Spine, but that was an obstacle she had learned to overcome. She slipped a hand behind his neck and tugged gently, and he obediently tipped forward until he was low enough. He giggled softly, nervously, when he was at last in her reach.

"Like this," she whispered.

She leaned close and gently kissed him, and felt a little tremor go through him... not like before, fortunately. There may have been surprise in his response, but not fear or sorrow. He made the same funny little thoughtful noise he had before, his lips pressed hers as before. But it was so different from before! He seemed to warm to it for a moment, his arms tightening around her, his long fingers curling into her blouse. Steam vented noisily from his cheekplates  

It was more than lovely. Cornelia felt warm. The imprinting was gone completely, but this was a kiss she would cherish forever.

She felt steam tickling her cheeks as he slowly pulled away. "Do... do dragons give off electricity?" he asked, exhaling a puff of steam as he spoke. He sounded almost breathless.

"No, silly. Just fire!"

He looked sheepish and flustered. "That was... well, that was kinda nice."

"Pssht. You know very well you'd rather receive an electric shock than feel my meaty lips," she said dismissively. glancing toward the lab. "I... guess I'd better get in there."

She started to move away but Rabbit still held her.

"Rabbit?"

"Hm? Sorry. Yeah, you'd better... but... one thing."

"What?"

He leaned in a little and, to her astonishment, kissed her once more, eagerly, steam billowing from his vents as she clutched at his back in shock. What in the world! Had Jon meant this, or did even he realize...

Rabbit drew away and smiled charmingly. "Yeah... that's actually real nice. Who knew?"

"I don't understand..." she gasped.

He sighed. "Sorry, baby. I just... knew I wouldn't get to try that again for a long time. You okay?"

"Yes," she lied. If he'd done that a few months earlier she would have gladly remained imprinted!

"Good. I like tryin' new stuff sometimes! But..." He looked at her with a serious face, for the first time ever. "Stella, I just wanna tell ya, you've made us all happy and, I'm real glad you an' Spine hit it off but... if I could have imprinted right back on ya, I would have."

"Rabbit!" she laughed.

"I mean it! I felt real bad for ya! And yehr a real cute kid." He winked.

"Sweet Rabbit," she sighed.

"Take care of yourself, baby."

He let go of her at last. She hesitated but pushed herself to walk into the lab, leaving Rabbit leaning against the wall and staring at the floor.

Colonel Walter was making adjustments to a series of posts. The Spine was moving heavy equipment into place. She watched them numbly.

Or not so numbly. She thought of her time here. She had been so deeply in love with Rabbit, or so she had thought. Despite the lingering tingles from having been in his arms so unexpectedly intimately, she recognized it now as obsession, a deep hunger. One she no longer felt. That was a relief.

But in the absence of that burning itch she could now understand her real feelings.

Hatchworth... how she adored him! He was adorable. So strong and yet so vulnerable... and in his childlike way, showing his feelings raw, unrefined, like a young boy in love for the first time. She could care for him the same way, but he still just felt too new to it, too young. But his affection warmed her heart.

The Jon... what a quiet power he held! He was the smallest, the lightest, and yet, despite his innocence, the most deeply passionate. His feelings were clear as well... inasmuch as she could understand such a being. She saw now that he loved her, as a friend. And he loved her as a lover. And he didn't mind that she wouldn't be his lover. He cared but didn't mind... What a mystery! What she was sure of now, though... if The Spine hadn't had such a passion for her, Jon would have eagerly filled his place. And Jon would not have hesitated to join her in her bed... her cheeks burned and she took a deep, calming breath. Jon. When had he changed from that secure innocence to this? But possibly under that gentle concern was always a being capable of this level of deep passion.

Then there was Rabbit. She was sure of him now, or thought she had been. Such a beautiful face! She could sit and admire every verdigris tendril for hours. How had his father put so much care and artistry into him and let the others be so plain? Ah, but she recalled he had been in love with Delilah when he began, and later had simply needed to complete his creations. So Rabbit's chassis had hung, carved and crafted, until his return from battle, and his siblings were built for practicality and economy. And this was what she thought of Rabbit now, after sharing two warm kisses with him, the second of which had happened because he wanted another kiss, but wasn't in love with her. It was because he'd decided he liked kissing her. No more and no less. That was Rabbit. She could walk back out there and ask for more kisses, and she might get one or two. But it would never go further.

And The Spine. She watched him moving the heavy parts for the portal, working diligently to save her. She knew that was what was keeping him going every minute. Saving her.

He had been like a noy when she arrived. She had been little more than a serious youth herself. And how they had changed! She had learned to love in a way her kind had never taught her, and he... he was a man.

He was all the others were, and more. He was so beautiful... so adorable... strong, vulnerable. Her love and her would be lover, her friend, deeply passionate, and doing what was right despite the pain it gave him, so human! And she knew that the day he joined her in Snornia would be the day he would unhesitantly share her bed. The thought of it made her hair stand on end. 

But when would that day be?

Steam rose from his back as he lifted the last pillar into place as though it was made of paper. It was ready.

A sob tore from her as he turned from fastening the last bolt. She ran to him and he swept her up in his arms, kissing her. She drew away a moment later to look at him. He was crying. Why did he have to cry? She already felt guilty that she had spent the last ten minutes kissing his brothers, and now, to say goodbye to him! It was the same every day... They turned her head, and then she saw him again, and there was no question now just how much she loved him.

It was cruel, terrible, to have gone from such a cool and collected existence to this depth of love and have to say goodbye! It was too much!

"I love you," he whispered. "I'll be counting the days until I can follow you."

"I love you! I'll be waiting, I promise!"

"Cornelia..."

More kisses... how could she even have let the others affect her so? Here was everything she had ever wanted without knowing she wanted anything at all.

"Five minutes to activation, son," the Colonel said gently, stepping into the room slowly. "Finish your goodbye... Once she's through, we'll have to break the assembly down."

"Will we be able to rebuild it later?" The Spine asked sharply.

"I... don't know."

"What? You have my notes..." Cornelia cried.

"No, my dear. I daren't keep them. I've placed all pertinent material in your bags. For your safety, they must go with you."

"But..." The Spine started toward him, releasing her briefly. "Sir, how can the portal be opened again?"

The Colonel sighed heavily down at his work. "It can't unless I can work out the data myself."

"But if you repeat what you are doing now..."

"There are still many variables that only her notes contain. I can't be certain I'll remember them all correctly. She can open it from her side of course."

"But how will she know...?" he cried.

"She won't."

"Father... I... I want to go with her!"

"Spine!" she cried. "You can't!"

He turned back to her. "But Cornelia! We may never see each other again otherwise!"

"Are you sure?" she said breathlessly as he took her hands in his.

"No!" Col. Walter cried. "I can't just send you there blindly! Snornia is a violent place, and you require maintenance, and there would be no contact... No, absolutely out of the question!"

"Father!" The Spine cried, anguished. "Please! How can I just send her away knowing I may never see her again?"

Her heart pounded and tears flowed without restraint. She couldn't let him, could she? The Colonel was right. She didn't know what awaited her there... and if anything happened to her, what would become of him?

He turned from his father. His expression grew still as he looked at her. He closed his eyes tightly and pressed his trembling lips together.

"Spine... my love, I can't risk it..." she sobbed.

"I know," he whispered.

They embraced and waited until the portal was ready.

"It's time," the Colonel said heavily, a few minutes later.

Cornelia and The Spine shared one last messy, tear-filled kiss.

"I'll find a way, Cornelia... I.. I won't forget! Somehow I'll find you..."

"I know. And I'll still be waiting."

She turned, lifted her bags, and walked slowly through the glowing portal, not looking back. Behind her, she heard The Spine's last sobbing cry, "Cornel-"

And she was standing in the ruins of the Old Dragon's lab. She dropped her bags, sank into the dust, and wept in her human form.

She was exhausted. She hadn't slept and felt drunken with crying. And she was back in Snornia... she should change into her dragon form for her safety.

But she was never going to see him again. She knew it. She wouldn't see any of them again.

She curled into a ball and fell asleep, not really caring whether another dragon came along and killed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thing is, I ended up letting Cornelia fall for these cuties much like I did (well, in a distant fan sort of way, anyhow). Hatchworth, the adorable and innocent robot who turned out to be far more tricky and mature than he lets on; The Jon, gone before I joined the fandom, but who can surprise you with that face and those eyes, even from old videos; Rabbit, the one who I honestly was thoroughly besotted with at first, absolutely overwhelmingly breathtaking... I've never really recovered from that hypnotic face staring right into the camera while singing Honeybee; and The Spine, who did not impress me in the beginning, and who, over time, revealed himself to be unexpectedly dangerous. Every bit the equal of Rabbit in making a fan thoroughly awkward and twitterpated.
> 
> So yeah, Cornelia is helping me exorcise a few demons. But now she finally enters into her story, the one that explains a series of digital paintings of mine. Professor Spot's Steam Dragons.


	20. Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia is back in Snornia, alone. But she won't remain alone for long.

When Cornelia awoke, the bright Snornian sun was beating down on her human form. It felt dreadful. At first she lay indifferent to any sensation. So what if it felt bad? It was better than she felt inside.

But she had always been durable and knew that she would rise and carry on though her heart remained in Walter Manor. This she did, and slipped wearily out of her clothing, storing it neatly in her bag in anticipation of transforming. But as she sat, naked in the destroyed lab. she found a wrapped packet in the top of her carpet bag.

She removed it and replaced it with the clothing. Had they given her a farewell gift? With trembling fingers she opened the wrapper and gaped in astonishment at the contents.

Four small bags, with four small vials. Four locks of hair. And a note.

_Dearest Cornelia,_

_I know there is a chance that we won't see each other again. I have had to face the possibility. If that's the case, I will go with you. But if there is even a chance of our being separated by mistake, or if Father refuses to allow me to go, I wanted to give you every chance of finding me._

_We have been preparing this ever since we decided to go to war, just in case. We haven't told Father that we have tapped our cores as he would certainly object._

She gasped, clapping one hand over her mouth. Such a risk to take, just to bring her back! But of course. Somehow they all were fond enough of her to risk their own destruction to see her again. She thought of the group of them sitting together in secret, making the decision... The Spine offering the suggestion, each of the others agreeing with serious faces... and she missed them more than ever. There was an excruciating lump in her throat and she wanted to transform, to become unable to weep. But first she had to finish reading the letter written in his neat handwriting. She noticed it became shaky toward the end, however...

_I know you have scientific theories on tracking by means of organic material. I suspect your keen intellect could turn those theories into reality and find a way to use matter from each of us to find us again, given the chance. To that end, this parcel contains a little of our matter. The locks of hair are a sentimental gesture; each of us trimmed a little hair and Rabbit didn't want to be excluded so he cut off a piece of his wig. I think he just wanted a reason to cut it up._

_What you should find really useful are the shavings from each of our inner chassis, and these four tiny samples of our Blue Matter cores. From these, you can find a way to locate us. At least, I hope so._

_I love you, Cornelia. I can never say that enough. Wait for me._

_\- The Spine_

She sat there, staring at the little vials. A tiny part of each of them, a little sample of what made each of them who they were.  And the hair... silly things, it wasn't as if it grew back! But he thought she could use these samples to find her way back? Of course! The coordinates she had used before sent her to Germany. With these, she could track the source and map the coordinates. Then she would have a route to Walter Manor! Possibly the day would come when Col. Walter no longer feared to have her return, and The Spine, if all went well at war, would still be waiting... She was just sure of it!

But to get the coordinates, she would have to act quickly. The trouble was, she had to construct a suitable device to trace the source of each sample, and her lab was in shambles! She decided the first thing was to clean up, after she had found a way to keep the samples stable. In the automatons, the matter would be stabilized by their core containment units and the steady operation of their systems. She would need to create small chambers to continuously cycle the blue matter while she prepared the coordinate trace.

She took care of the large debris in dragonform, and found that a portion of the lab was intact. It looked as if the structure hadn't caved in from the ravages of time but from some sort of attack. Much of the scientific apparatus had been shattered; it looked to her to be most deliberate and specific. But one room at the end of the building was partially shielded by the cavern that held the rest of the house; its equipment was still sitting where she had left it. She could only hope that whoever had attacked the building had done so long ago, and would consider the job done and forgotten. The local folk had never been pleased with the presence of a scientist, but had feared and respected the Old Dragon enough to leave his lab in peace while he lived. She supposed upon his death, they had felt otherwise.

She set up some large and sturdy pieces of the roof against the open side of the lab. Once she transformed and dressed, she slipped between the pieces and set to work. To her relief, she had the necessary parts and soon had the samples humming each in its own little generator.

With that done, she began to scour the lab for parts for tracing the coordinates. There wasn't much to work with but she began piling what parts she thought might serve. She could get other pieces later as needed, she hoped. There had been a few sympathetic souls in the nearby cave city who sold raw metals that would serve her purpose.

She returned to the samples to check their current states. They still hummed, but she was surprised to note that each one had attracted its corresponding bag of metal slivers.

"Curious..." she murmured, touching The Spine's core sample and sighing.

The core flickered. Her eyes widened.

"Hello?" she asked, puzzled.

It flickered gently as if in response. She touched it once more and spoke again.

"Are you responding to my voice?" she asked, feeling a bit foolish.

It flickered clearly this time. Her throat closed off momentarily. It couldn't be!

She began posing questions to it, simple ones designed to invoke the strongest response. "Do you know who I am?"

The sample brightened slightly.

"Do you know who you are?"

Slight flicker; it seemed uncertain.

"Are... are you aware?"

Slight flicker.

"Are you... afraid?"

Slight glow.

"Is your name... Is it The Spine?" she gasped. The sample glowed brightly.

Cornelia broke down. "No... I can't bear the idea that even a little of you is trapped in this vial! Why would you do this, my love? I'm not worth the loss of part of yourself! Certainly not worth sending even a little of who you are to be burned away in an experiment!"

The sample was so bright now that she had to squint. The other samples began to glow. Cornelia sobbed and touched each one gently, whispering their names and seeing a flickering response.

"I can't do this!" she wailed, sinking to the floor. "You fools! You idiots... To think that a tiny portion of your consciousness is trapped in these vials and waiting to be destroyed! And you know that's coming and you're just patiently waiting for it... Damn you all!"

She wept, her head aching. How love had brought her low... so many tears! But to think of their foolishness, each giving a sample when only one needed to, and knowing that they were giving a bit of their very essence, a piece of something with its own consciousness! She wanted to find it touching but it just hurt. Could any of them even hear her, or were they just responding to a familiar warmth and vibration of voice?

When she had recovered somewhat, she got to her feet and looked at each of them through red-rimmed eyes, determined to find the right solution.

"How aware are these samples?" she whispered, touching Jon's. It seemed to swirl around the place where her fingers rested on it. "You could tell me, darling... You always seemed to know hidden things."

She touched Hatchworth's and it simply glowed brighter. She touched and spoke to Rabbit's and it flashed cheerily under her fingers.

"How much do they remember? I can't know unless... oh, no."

She sighed and pulled up one of the few intact chairs and sat, leaning over the little vials, thinking. There was no way she could use them to find the coordinates now. She felt as if they were more than small samples from a far greater whole. They felt almost like beings unto themselves, small, primitive, helpless. It hit her directly in the chest when she thought of it this way.

They were like infants! Children of her darling robots, from their very bodies... it was strange, to be sure, but she could find no more accurate comparison. And indeed, when she gently stroked each one, it seemed to respond to her loving caress more than any other stimulus.

No, she couldn't use them now, and she couldn't leave them in these compartments. She had to make them something better... bigger. Something that could move and communicate. The idea was forming in her head and it made her most uneasy at first, but it wouldn't let go.

Bodies. They needed their own bodies. She felt, in fact, that it was not merely an option to build them, but an obligation, a responsibility. It felt for all the world as though the automatons had put into her care these helpless beings and she must care for them, come what may. It felt as though she must bear their children.

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she looked at them, tears of mixed emotion. She was angry first... she wondered if this was the way a female felt if she came from a passionate love affair to find herself pregnant, with the father nowhere in evidence. She was a scientist, and if she did say so, a rather brilliant one. She had solved the last threads of mystery that had brought her home; with help, yes, but it had been her work that had brought the final conclusion. And yet she was once again reduced to the role of woman, tending youngsters willy-nilly. She, unwittingly, must become a mother.

And there the anger met with a stronger emotion. She shook with the strength of it. That was indeed what had happened, whether or not they had realized it when they made their choice of action. They had given her the sparks of life, and she must form the bodies. It felt all of a sudden as though this was meant to be. She loved them, each and every one. And they had given her children. Her head swam with wonder at the thought.

She also rather thought it would have been nice if The Spine hadn't been quite so strong and upright at the end... If she was to have children, it would have been nice to have the memory of having made love to at least one of the fathers. But she couldn't fault him for it. Until her arrival at Walter Manor, she had never even considered leaping into bed without the proper license. But first Rabbit and then The Spine had taught her what it was to want very much to do just that.

It was overwhelming when she thought of it that way. A child created by woman, from an act of love on the part of a man. As much as she ached to be with them again, especially The Spine, she was giddy in spite of her scientific mind with the idea of being mother to their offspring.

There were questions to be settled. The first was, would each child be different from its father, or would she build them and find out that each one had retained the identity of the parent? Would she find herself surrounded by the same group, one of her own creating? It would be terribly awkward, but if she did, it couldn't be helped. They simply could not be left in the vials forever.

And if she must become a mother, well... As she was a dragon, living in a land of dragons, her children by them would be dragons as well.

"So be it," she whispered thickly, resting both hands on the little vials. She felt them thrum under her fingers and whispered, "Soon, dears. But... I must begin with the one I love most dearly."

She lifted the module housing The Spine's sample and sobbed quietly. "Our child... How I wish we could have done this together. It doesn't feel like a false or contrived way of having a child. It only feels as if you should be helping me create him."

She looked out through the cracks in the lean-to wall of the lab at the masses of twisted silvery metal that had once formed its greenhouse-like structure. It had been gargantuan, big enough to house the Old Dragon in his full form. She would decide in time what form to give each of her children, but this one was already clear in her mind. The Spine's son, like his father, would be a formidable being.

Feeling a little foolish, she placed a single soft kiss on each vial, stripped off, and went out to begin removing the glass residue from the metal parts to begin construction of a dragon even larger than herself.

 

When she had stripped and gathered enough materials to begin, she returned to her bags to consult some of the papers she had gathered before leaving. She had a few stacks of notes on the inner workings of the robots, brought along as much out of sentiment as out of scientific interest. But when she opened the bag containing her notes, she found yet another surprise. A letter, on top of specifications she had not included. She pulled one out and saw a diagram of Rabbit's internal structure. She gasped.

"He was originally constructed to be female!" she gasped. She wondered what that said about her? She wondered how much it mattered, really, considering she had already fallen in love across lines of race/species. But she had never considered it a very efficient means of romance, given that offspring could not be produced from beings of the same sex. And that was the most she had ever thought on the subject.

She was little troubled by it now as well. The Colonel had clearly discarded his plans for the feminine build and Rabbit showed no signs of femininity outside of a certain moody petulance. Cornelia had never much appreciated the male tendency to attribute such fickle behavior to feminine weakness anyway, so she didn't even consider that aspect of Rabbit's personality to be consistent.

In any case, offspring had been, in its own way, produced. And these papers raised the question of whether she would make Rabbit's child male or female. Come to think of it, any one of them could turn out to express a preference; it wasn't as if they were bound to one or the other.

She woke from her musings to find herself staring at the envelope. She opened it and found a letter from the Colonel.

" _My dear Cornelia,_

_By the time you read this, you will most likely be home in Snornia once more. I can only imagine how lost and alone you must feel and I only wish things could have been different._

_But I leave you these copies of the robots' structures to aid you in what lies ahead. I know what my sons have done, Cornelia, and I fear a great burden has been placed upon you very much without your consent. I apologize on behalf of us all for the delicate situation you are now in, and beg you, do not use them as they have suggested. By my reckoning, they don't realize the ramifications. But I suspect you have and will not allow these samples to come to harm."_

"Indeed I have," she sighed tearily.

" _I suspect that The Spine, whatever he may have told his brothers, thought that in some way, he was sending himself with you. And in some way, he has, even as a man may leave some part of himself with a woman, thus creating a new life, if you will pardon the indelicate analogy."_

She had already drawn the same conclusion. His description made her blood fizz but she found the idea of the four of them leaving her with child darkly amusing.

" _I could simply confiscate the samples, but I dare not attempt to restore them to their sources. I was terrified to learn that they had opened their cores at all. And so it would remain for me to determine what build to give and to find the time to raise four new automatons even as I worry about the existing four. So it happens that I, with regret, commend them into your charge. My studies have told me enough to know that they will have sentience, even some memory of their source. Very little, given the miniscule amount provided. They will mostly bear common traits with their sources, rather than the entire identity. They will be new and unformed, like little children. Additional Blue Matter will be needed to construct a core of enough size to form functioning intellect, and to power a working automaton. From there I surmise that each, like a human, will begin with a certain predesignated collection of personality traits and time with you will provide them with the knowledge they need to develop who they are meant to become._

_May you find the happiness caring for them that I have in caring for their... well, their fathers. It gives me rather a lump in my throat to think of having four grandchildren and I hope that someday I might meet them. I know they will be glorious._

_Good luck, my dear. Our love goes with you._

_Col Peter A Walter."_

And that was her confirmation. She peered at the papers and smiled nervously. The plans were, of course, human form, but all she needed to know was there. And while he had said the automatons didn't realize what they were doing, she wondered. The Jon, at least, had the sensitivity to suspect that they were more than samples. What about Hatchworth, who sometimes perceived similar things? The Spine with his keen scientific mind? Surely, and how it would have made him steam to think of it! And Rabbit... petulantly going along so as not to be left out, possibly would have been oblivious. But then, she had sometimes pictured each of them as human, for amusement, and she had decided Rabbit, burdened with human sexual drives, would live up to his name and probably have women pregnant with his children for miles around. 

Cornelia giggled, and felt relieved by it. She had done nothing but cry for so long...

Well, so be it. She accepted that if she chose to have dragon children, she could never live on Earth again while her children needed her. But she was a dragon, and nothing felt more natural than dragon offspring... unless it was the fact that she was becoming a mother through robotic science rather than biology. How fitting. And provided The Spine did find them, did come to her, she would be content. There were human facilities within the cave mansion, there would be a father with the mother, humanoid but durable enough to raise their young. And she would indeed make four glorious children... with the hope that someday they might meet their family. Their fathers.

Humming softly to herself, she found some blank paper and the stump of a pencil in the bottom of her satchel and began to draw up plans for her four beautiful children.

 


	21. The Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia has spent two long years building bodies for the core samples of the Walter automatons... four dragon children.
> 
> It's time to become a mother.

Today was the day...

They were beautiful. Cornelia sat, human form, and stared at them.

The largest, The Spine's son, silver and sleek. He hummed in stasis and hissed with steam every few minutes. She had built each with great care, but she couldn't deny that he was special. And she couldn't imagine him being anything but male, despite the clear realization that there was no knowing until they aged and matured which sex they would own. As automatons, they had no genetic markers. It would be up to them. But she had given this one the power and form of a male and hoped she was correct. It would not be easy to alter his form once he was activated.

She caressed his snout and sighed. "How I wish your father could see you, sweetheart."

But she wished that for all of them. She turned to Rabbit. She wasn't sure why, but while she hadn't settled on a name for Spine's son, she couldn't think of this one as anything but Rabbit. It was covered in the same copper and curlicues that its father had. She had spent a great deal of time making sure of it, and giving it a graceful form somewhere between that of a male and a female. Just in case.

Hatchworth's child she had decided to name Luke, the German word for "hatch," or simply "Hatch" in dragonspeak. It was also somewhat neutral, despite her choice for a masculine name. It was thick set like its father, but smaller like a female. There had been no way to include the mustache, at least, none that didn't look utterly ridiculous. But otherwise it was much like him and she looked on it with satisfaction.

And last, claws curled on a perch and wings folded, was her littlest. This one, like The Spine's son, had no name. Like the other two robots, it was of indeterminate sex. Unlike any of them, it could fly. She had been obliged to make it very little in order to do so, but this was a precautionary measure. While she felt a great passion for each of their fathers, she considered The Jon the most dangerous now. If anyone could infuse his sample with all that was really him, it was Jon. She wasn't sure how he had even provided a sample from that vortex. But here it was, swirling and beautiful, inside her baby's little core. And she had decided that if there was even a chance that this one would remember being The Jon, and remember the startling implication that in the absence of The Spine, he would gladly be her mate, well... If it remembered, she needed it to be smaller and weaker.

Because these were her children! She felt it after two solid years of labor. The gestation of dragon eggs was nearly as long and she couldn't have felt a deeper and more primal bond if she had conceived and laid the eggs with her own body. They were made by her and even if each woke professing to be one of the Walter automatons, she could not see them as mates. They were her precious creations, her young. Even now, she stripped and transformed so as to once again caress each properly, like a human mother stroking the velvety skin of a new baby.

When dragon eggs hatched, they usually did so gradually, allowing the parents to get to know each whelp for a little while before bringing another into the family. Cornelia had decided that she would simulate this phenomenon by powering them on one by one, in stages.

She stood back for one more look, feeling a moment of apprehension. It had been a hard road, collecting metals and finding a cache of Blue Matter to add to each sample, using dragon fire to heat and shape their bodies. Her heart ached with joy at the idea of meeting them at last, and fear as well. Sometimes she feared they would remember too much, but now she feared it would be too little. Had it been too long? Would retain any of the qualities of their precious fathers? She had dreamed as she worked, imagining the joy of recognizing qualities of the older automatons in their developing offspring. She would be deep in science and a mother at the same time.

She took a deep breath and went to activate the largest first. She turned a small key with the tip of a claw and heard the buzz and click as the systems check occurred as programmed. At long last there was a soft ping and he opened his eyes. His head tipped shakily to one side, regarding her with his large, gleaming green eyes, and her heart pounded with joy and worry. Did he know her?

"Hello," she said gently. He stared at her. "Sweetheart? Can you speak?"

He blinked and hissed steam. He had been programmed with rudimentary dragonspeak but his father had spoken English primarily and other Earth languages by programming. She knew well how little that prepared anyone for the guttural language of her people. She would most likely have to teach him to use the words she had given him.

"Oh, dear," she sighed, as he fidgeted. "Well... Alright, then, um... young one..."

She was fighting the impulse to call him "little one" even though her instincts told her she was dealing with a whelp. A whelp of this size made infantile pet names ridiculous. Possibly she should have built smaller bodies until they were ready... well, no matter. Materials were not easy to find and what was done, was done.

"I will begin simply..." she growled. "I am your... mother. Yes. You are the child of an automaton called The Spine. He is not here but... he... he loves you very much." At least, he would if he knew him.

The young dragon rumbled softly. She wondered what that meant.

"Are you trying to say something, child? Go on, try again..." she coaxed.

He rumbled again. She sighed. Come to think of it, Rabbit had once laughingly told her that The Spine's first attempt to speak had been forestalled by an uncontrolled hiss of steam, after which he had drooled oil right onto the floor. The Spine had rather sheepishly confirmed this. Like a human child, each robot had had its quirks and unique challenges. So possibly something else was required in order to lead this one up to language gradually. After all, youngsters didn't usually learn to speak before they could walk, in either culture.

"I think perhaps we start with something in the motor skills area," she said. "You are very young, but it stands to reason that as an automaton, you should be able to begin learning to walk."

She turned and moved away a fair distance, turning to see him shifting anxiously. He made a soft whining sound. She almost returned to him; something deep inside her was telling her he was afraid.

"I'm not leaving," she said hastily.

His facial responses appeared to be functioning correctly, however; his face plates had shifted into an expression of unmistakeable anxiety. She once again felt the stirrings of the maternal instinct she had been feeling since realizing what lay ahead. She had wondered more than once whether the sexual awakening triggered by Rabbit had progressed smoothly into the motherhood stage of female dragon development. Whatever the reason, she felt now an anxiety of her own and fought the longing to return and comfort him. If he was anxious to reach her, it would motivate him to learn to do so.

"Come on, sweetheart," she said soothingly. "Lift your legs one at a time and walk to me. Watch, copy mother."

She raised a leg and took a step, nodding encouragingly. He lifted one leg slowly.

"That's it! Move it forward..."

He swung the leg forward too quickly, overbalanced, and fell forward onto his neck with a thunderous slam. She gasped and trotted to him, unable to resist the impulse any longer. He wasn't moving, but his eyes remained alert.

"Darling! Are you alright, little one?"

For now that she was looking down at him, it just felt right. He was her little one! As he looked up at her, his eyes twitched slightly and oil began to leak from them. The soft whining began again, followed by the rumbling sound as fitful puffs of steam came from his nostrils.

"What's wrong?" she cried, alarmed. "Are you damaged? Is there a leak?"

He began to cough in little bursts and looked at her pleadingly.

"Oh!" she gasped, understanding at last. Dragons didn't cry... but he wasn't the usual sort of dragon. "Oh, no, baby..."

She sank to the floor and lay her head against his. "Now, darling, don't... Don't..."

 _Don't what? Don't cry?_ she thought. She had always been told not to complain, to not create any trouble. And so she had learned to cope with things without help, and to avoid notice. But she had no desire to be like her father and force her children to grow up feeling alone. Let her baby cry if he was distressed. Why not?

"Mother's here," she said gently. "It was only a first try. Those are supposed to be tricky! Shush, now, love... I mean, cry if it helps. But let's just stay here together, hm? For a little while? Just sit with mother?"

He wriggled his legs under himself and settled into a laying position. "Muh..." he began. "Muhhh..."

"Mother. Very good, darling!"

He coughed another puff of steam and lay his head awkwardly against hers. It was very, very heavy... But she was strong, even more so since building him!

"Good," she purred. "You are very good. Understand?"

She didn't know whether he did, but he steamed contentedly and soon was in stasis, quickly tired like a new whelp. She carefully worked her way free and stretched as she looked at the other three children. If they were each going to be this much work, she would have to wait even longer to activate them! But she would give her oldest some time, and hopefully a name, and see whether he progressed quickly enough to allow a sibling soon.

Meanwhile, she curled against him in a more comfortable position, wrapping her tail around his back. This was right, she decided. A new whelp didn't immediately start learning to walk and talk. A young one just hatched spent months curled against its mother and receiving nourishment. This wouldn't be quite the same, but at least, for now she would stay and comfort him. She still remembered, if only a little, being curled under her mother's wing... Her mother hadn't lived long after that, but Cornelia cherished the memory as one of the few tender moments of her life. At least, until she arrived in Walter Manor.

She fell asleep to the hum of her child's idling systems.

 

The following two months were spent in helping her oldest to learn to walk and to begin using the simple language programmed as a foundation for more complex speech later. It was more of a struggle than expected. He was eager to please, like his father, and she watched him closely for other traits of The Spine; almost too eagerly as she was reminded of how achingly she missed him. She was able to observe determination, quiet strength, but a little self-doubt, reminiscent of the same quality that had led The Spine to sometimes envy Rabbit. And she noted that he tried so hard that sometimes when he failed, his distress was almost too much to console and he would creep into the cavern she had prepared for him and hide for several hours. But sooner or later, he would sheepishly reappear, nuzzle her and make his familiar rumbling sound, unable yet to convey regret or apology through words. And he would try again the thing at which he had struggled, often succeeding at last in achieving it.

But more and more, in the quiet hours of the night, she began to long to activate the others. She wanted to see them all together as her beloved automatons once were, and watch them for those same qualities that she cherished in their fathers. The loneliness had actually grown harder to bear since activating the first. The work of building them and the distracting focus of the process had been enough to occupy her mind. Now she had company and realized how she had missed it.

And so, one night, she gently powered down her oldest, who she had at last named Talon in hopes that a powerful name would give him courage, and turned to the other three. He had shown interest in them many times. She had even found him curled up next to one or the other, in stasis, as though soothed by their idling systems. It was precious and she hoped it meant that he would be pleased to see them active.

She pondered for a few minutes and chose Rabbit. She had decided that, male or female, this one would bear its father's name. Such was the strength of the parent in her esteem, even now. However much she loved each one, she loved them uniquely. And Rabbit had been the only one able to affect her biologically and despite the Colonel's success in easing her away from the need for his presence, she could still feel within herself the primal connection. That had been the secret to crafting its fine and delicate chassis; she felt as though every line and curve of Rabbit had been etched into her scales and would always be a part of her. As much as she loved Talon, Rabbit, the younger, felt more than any other like the child of her own flesh.

She looked at it fondly and carefully powered it on. The systems check clicked over and pinged. Rabbit opened its eyes. She sighed happily. They were beautiful! They fixed on hers and it burbled.

"Hello to you, too!" she said happily.

"Mama!" it replied, wriggling.

She was taken aback. Talon called her that all the time... Had she failed to properly program Rabbit to be unconscious in stasis?

"Yes," she said carefully. "I am your mama. And your name is Rabbit."

It burbled again and bobbed on its delicate legs. "Rabbit!"

"That's right, darling." It was learning so quickly! "Have you been watching me and your brother, child? Is that how you know so much already, even though you were not awake?"

"Wake!" it bellowed, and dust settled from the roof of the cave. "Rabbit wake!"

"Yes, you did wake. I woke you..."

It swung its head toward Talon and crowed, "Wake! Wake, Mama!"

"You want your brother to wake?" she asked tremulously.

"Brother wake!"

It was so precious! So bright and energetic, just like its pappy. And naturally drawn to others, trying to get their attention. Pure Rabbit.

Thrilled, she cried, ""He will wake in the morning, darling. It is time for him to rest. I also will need to rest soon."

Rabbit looked at her sideways and squawked softly. "Mama rest?"

It was too adorable! She nuzzled it with her snout and it eagerly pressed its head against hers and purred.

"Rabbit rest!" it cried, bobbing.

"Well, you'll have to calm yourself first!" she cried, amused.

"Calm?" it squeaked eagerly, wriggling rapidly.

"Oh, silly darling!"

"Silly darling!" it echoed happily.

She couldn't help it. She already adored it beyond measure. It was every inch its father's child. It had been harder to see traits of The Spine in Talon because of the quiet nature they shared. But Rabbit's lively nature had clearly been what dominated this sample.

And if she was to get any rest, she would have to deal with that. But she had learned a few things in the months raising Talon. His sudden fatigue on the day of his activation had concerned her. After much observation, she formed the theory that it was the amount of Blue Matter she had added to his sample that caused the weariness. It took a great deal of energy to write the new threads of knowledge into his core, given the sheer volume of blank matter. So as he learned, he was able to run for longer between stasis.

It stood to reason that if she wanted to sleep, she would have to wear Rabbit out. Fortunately, she had a little game she had created to help Talon with his coordination problems.

"Let's play a game before we rest, Rabbit. Would you like that? Would you like to play a game?"

She hoped it understood; the word "game" wasn't in basic dragonspeak, unfortunately.

"Game!" shrieked Rabbit. Talon shifted but didn't come out of stasis.

"Hush, now!" she said quietly, trying not to giggle. "Your brother is sleeping!"

"Sleeping!" whispered Rabbit brightly.

"Alright, little one. Lift your right foreleg!"

She lifted her left foreleg as she faced him to guide his response. Talon tended to mirror her when they played this game. Rabbit, similarly, lifted the leg directly opposite the one she had raised.

"Good!" she cried ecstatically. "Now..."

"Good!" shrieked Rabbit, slamming the foot down and bobbing once more. "Good! Rabbit good!"

"Yes!" she giggled brightly. "Rabbit is good. Now raise your left foreleg..."

Rabbit did so.

"Very good!"

"Very good!" Rabbit yelped, giving a great leap of joy with all four legs. It landed flat on its stomach with a crash to rival Talon's first fall.

Cornelia rushed to it. "Are you alright, darling?" she cried anxiously. It was shaking all over!

A great snort came from its throat and the shaking resumed.

"Rabbit!" she cried, crouching down beside it.

It looked up at her and she heard a peculiar hiccuping sound. It took a minute to register.

"You're laughing?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Silly thing..."

"Silly thing!"

"Right..."

It wriggled its legs under its stomach, its giggles trailing off. "Right..." it sighed. There was a soft click in its systems. "Right..."

"Rabbit? Are you ready to rest?"

"No!" Click. "No rest..." Click.

She settled beside it the way she had on Talons first night. "It's alright, darling. Mama will stay beside you."

"No..." it persisted, its head tipping forward. "No re-re-re-rest..."

Startled, she watched it closely. Was it stuttering because it was tired, or because of a lingering glitch left in the sample by its father?

"N-n-n-n-nnnn..." It let out a sound much like a sigh and entered stasis still trying to object to resting.

Cornelia nuzzled her second child contentedly. What a dear thing! It would be a handful, to be sure, but no more than she had ever expected of any child of Rabbit's. She felt the old familiar flutter at the thought, the same one she had gotten from thinking of Talon as The Spine's child. It was happening at last! She couldn't be with them; as far as she knew, they were still at war, or destroyed. She couldn't allow herself to consider the latter, but it still remained that they were not here. But bless them for their foolishness in sending the samples, for she was already happier than she could have imagined!

She looked toward the remaining children. How long would they sit idle? Well, tomorrow would tell a great deal. Tomorrow, Rabbit would meet its big brother, and she would see whether the dynamic allowed for the activation of a third child.

 

"Wake!" roared a shrill voice.

Cornelia tipped over in shock and looked up to see Rabbit standing over her on trembling legs.

"Wake, Mama!"

She really needed to find out whether Rabbit was really this quick or whether it did remain conscious in stasis. If it was conscious, it might be waking itself as soon as its systems allowed. And that was far too early!

She turned her head to see Talon staring at them both with wide eyes from where it had crouched all night. She rose and started to walk toward it, feeling very stiff and weary. Rabbit attempted to follow and fell down again. She heard the same snorting giggle and continued without looking back.

"Talon, darling! I have a wonderful surprise for you. Your sibling has joined us. Remember that I told you that there will be four of you eventually?"

Talon nodded, still looking anxiously at Rabbit, who was trying to get its legs under it again and chortling constantly.

"Are you worried, darling?" she asked, reaching out to nuzzle him reassuringly. He eagerly nestled his head against hers.

"No... no like..." he faltered. "No sib... sib..."

"Sibling," she sighed. "Please, sweetheart. I love Talon. Do you understand? Mama loves Talon. But there are four children. All must have the chance to wake, hm? Now come and meet Rabbit..."

"No!"

"Oh, dear."

She looked worriedly back at Rabbit, who had tried in the interim to walk to them and fallen twice more. It was now scooting across the floor on its belly. Cornelia cringed. That was going to scratch its beautiful finish!

Rabbit inched toward Talon, crowing delightedly. "Brother! Brother wake!"

"No!" Talon crept behind Cornelia without much success. Rabbit could still see him plainly.

But Rabbit was no longer creeping forward. "No?" it peeped, looking at her.

"Brother is feeling afraid, Rabbit dear. I think he was not expecting to see you so soon."

"No! No Rabbit!" Talon roared.

She sighed, glad at least that she hadn't given them the ability to breathe fire. They had the parts but no fuel. And Talon was growing more and more agitated. He was dangerous enough the way he was.

Rabbit, in turn, was now glaring at Talon. "No... no brother!" he roared back.

"No Rabbit!"

"No brother!"

"No Rabbit!"

The walls were trembling. What could she do to stop this before they destroyed the entire cave system of the old dragon's lair? Talon alone could bring the roof down upon them. Curse her nostalgic choice of build!

"Stop!" she cried sharply. She could feel Talon startle, but there was no help for it. She felt terrible as he began to cry. Rabbit, however, just stared at her in surprise before turning its gaze back to its brother.

"Brother... brother..." it began, trying to explain what it saw.

"He is crying, darling," Cornelia explained as she turned to nuzzle him apologetically. "Mama has startled him by shouting. He is not used to shouting." Although he'd done a pretty good job of it himself.

"Brother... crying?"

"Yes. It is how we show we are distressed or sad."

"Sad..."

"Yes, love."

Rabbit scooted toward Talon. "No... No sad!"

Talon looked at him mournfully. "Sad..." he moaned softly.

Rabbit came very close and reached out, nuzzling Talon's head the way Cornelia had. "Brother," it said in a soft, high voice. "Rabbit... love."

 _Stop it,_ she thought. _I think I might break if they get any cuter..._

"Love?" Talon said.

"Rabbit love."

There was a pause. "No!" cried Talon, shrinking away.

Cornelia sighed. Rabbit stared at its brother for a long moment. Cornelia supposed it would find the sight of Talon recoiling amusing. Its father often enjoyed putting The Spine in awkward situations...

To her astonishment, Rabbit threw back its head and began to wail.

"Oh, darling... it's... it's alright..." she faltered. Talon often cried, but Rabbit was such a bright and happy thing! To see it crying broke her heart.

"Rabbit sad!" it howled, stamping its feet.

And Talon further shocked her by creeping forward, staring in blank shock at the rolling, heaving, thrashing spectacle before him. Talon curled into a ball when he cried, but Rabbit rolled and shrieked and kicked and thrashed and carried on impressively.

"Rabbit?" he asked, looking at her for an explanation.

"Rabbit is crying," she explained, seizing the moment. "Talon has made Rabbit feel sad."

"Talon?" he cried, staring. He turned to Rabbit, who had tucked its head under one vestigial wing to weep with still greater dramatic effect. "Rabbit sad?"

"Yes, darling. Rabbit wants to be your friend. Can you let Rabbit stay and be your friend?"

Rabbit peered out from under its wing, as though waiting to see what the response would be.

Talon carefully eased itself onto its stomach and peered under the wing. "Talon... Talon... friend."

Rabbit folded its wing and nuzzled Talon. "Rabbit friend!"

Cornelia gazed in astonishment. It wasn't even a day old, technically. Yet already it had taken on the role Rabbit had... It was the younger sibling by months but she was sure she had just seen it trick Talon into overcoming his own fear. Indeed, Rabbit now looked at her as if to say, "Look what I did!" She could almost hear it.

Talon growled softly, "No cry, Rabbit. Talon love."

And Rabbit replied, "Brother!"

"Brother," agreed Talon.

Cornelia wasn't sure if Talon was accepting his role, or assigning the same role to Rabbit. She decided that once they had a greater grasp of language, it would be wise to teach them about males and females. Rabbit would accept male by default at this rate and she didn't want to taint the process of development. None of them had to choose either sex, technically.

"Mama," said Talon, looking at her.

"Hm?" she asked absently.

She looked and realized that Talon was teaching Rabbit that she was his mother. Rabbit, too young or too happy to point out that it already knew this, piped, "Mama!" and Talon nodded proudly as though he'd done it all himself.

He. She felt a stab of guilt. None of them had to choose. Why, then, had she imposed the male sex upon Talon? Why limit him alone? She resolved to do her best to keep his pronouns neutral as well, even though her desire was that he be his father's son.

"Hug," said Talon, resting its head against Rabbit's back. "Nice."

"Nice!" Rabbit squawked.

There was another soft click in its systems. "Ni-ni-nice..."

"Mama!" Talon cried.

"Shush, little one!" she cooed, settling down close to them. "Rabbit is young and tires quickly. It is time for it to rest."

"N-n-n-n-nooo!" Rabbit moaned, trying to lift its head. "N-no r-r-r-rest..."

One more click, and stasis engaged.

"And it didn't get enough rest last night," she added.

Talon nuzzled Rabbit and looked up at Luke. "Brother?"

"Or sister. Rabbit may also be a brother or a sister. And... Talon may be a brother or a sister."

Talon looked at her in surprise. "Sister?"

"Yes, darling," she said heavily. He... no, it... seemed intrigued. "It is Talon's choice. You are a robot and may decide whether to be male or female. Your papa is male. Mama is female. But you do not have to decide now."

It seemed a complicated choice to place before a child, but she suspected that while language eluded him, he understood more complex matters than any whelp she had known. His eyes looked so thoughtful.

"Yes, Mama," he said solemnly.

But it worried her. It had no male dragon to observe, to see whether it cared to identify as such. And she could not simply seek one out. She was an unattached female. Imprinting was considered by some to be a romantic ideal, and in its absence, many males would see her as available for mating willy-nilly, not to mention the fact that they were most often brutish and cruel. She might have all female children if they met such a beast! Or worse, they might embrace male dragon behavior and become brutes themselves. She couldn't imagine such a horrible taint on her dear children.

No, she would have to teach them the kind of men their fathers were, and let that be their guide. And for now, she would observe these two together. If their current state of peace continued, she could move on.

 


	22. Two More Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final two automatons are activated, and Cornelia discovers they remember a little more than their older siblings.

After Rabbit had been with them just one week, she decided to activate Luke. It already felt as though Rabbit had been activated for years, so as the two older robots were getting along reasonably well and she wanted to bring the other two online before the family dynamic became too set, now seemed like the best time to act. Besides, her oldest had become more and more curious about its younger siblings now that it had gotten accustomed to Rabbit. And Rabbit was _always_ curious.

As for Cornelia, she had longed to meet all of them for two years. More than that, she was concerned that the error she had made in programming Rabbit, one that allowed it to wake from stasis at will, might have also occurred in the other smaller automatons. If Luke woke with a similar amount of knowledge to what Rabbit possessed, but no recollection of the events that had happened in the lab where it stood, then she would have other theories to explore.

For she saw that while Rabbit was spurring Talon's development, Talon still struggled more than its sibling. She could only speculate that this was because of the size of its core. The original samples were of equal size, but Talon had required much more blank Blue Matter to power its systems than any of the others. She speculated that the ratio of imprinted matter to new matter determined how readily the robot could grow and adapt. The greater amount that there was blank, the less it retained of its former consciousness, thus needing more work to fill in the required connections in the brain and core matter.

It was new ground, and it was troubling. Because if she was right, The Jon's child, whose core was very small indeed, would remember most of what its father had given it. Her old fear resurfaced; would it retain the identity of The Jon, who saw her as a potential mate? Talon and Rabbit each had an innate affection for her, but it had taken the form of a child to a parent. She believed that given the circumstances, it would remain so. But Jon? Well... she'd made it tiny for a reason. It felt silly, the more she though about it, and the sooner she could determine whether there was even a reason for concern, the happier she'd be.

But first, Luke.

Talon and Rabbit were awake. She had decided this was the best circumstance for waking a third child, after Talon's shock earlier. Rabbit, having learned to use its legs, was trotting round and round Talon eagerly.

Luke ran through the systems check and its eyes opened. It looked around at them.

"Who... who..." it began, seemingly unable to decide what to say.

"Hello," said Cornelia.

It stared at her. "Ste... lla..."

She gasped.

"Who Stella?" asked Rabbit brightly. It had grasped language quite well, already surpassing Talon.

"I'm your mama, dear," Cornelia pressed, looking into Luke's eyes. "Mama..."

Luke looked confused. His expressed smoothed into a wide-eyed stare. "Mama?"

"Yes," she laughed, relieved. "Your papa called me Stella. You are Luke."

"Luke. Hm."

"Yes, Luke."

Luke looked at the other robots. "Mama?"

Rabbit flopped onto the floor in a fit of giggles. Talon shifted one brow plate and looked at Rabbit skeptically.

"No, dear," Cornelia said, fighting a smile. "Siblings. Talon and Rabbit. Friends."

Luke turned and trotted to them as easily as if he'd been walking on all fours for years. Rabbit stopped laughing and with Talon stared in shock at their sibling.

"Hello," it said mildly. "My name is Luke."

Talon and Rabbit looked at each other. They didn't look happy. They had each struggled with motor skills as well as language.

"Now, dears, everyone is naturally good at something..." she said quickly.

In any case, she wasn't worried that he remained alert in stasis. He clearly had no idea who they were.

"Friend?" he asked the others.

"Dunno..." Rabbit growled.

"Now, Rabbit! You were just activated yourself, and weren't you sad when Talon didn't accept you?"

Rabbit blinked at her. Had that been too complicated?

"Yeah," it grumbled at last. "Yeah, friend..."

"Friend?" Luke asked, looking up at Talon.

"Friend," Talon said firmly.

Luke let out a long sigh of steam, as though relieved. "Good." It turned to the last of the children. "Friend?"

"No. That baby," Talon corrected. "Sleeping."

"Ah." It jittered suddenly.

"Luke?" Cornelia asked.

"Yes?"

She blinked at it. She'd had some idea how to approach the other two. Rabbit was too darling to be believed and Talon was eager but clumsy. Both automatically attracted her maternal affections. But Luke was aloof, thoroughly independent. She could almost see it trotting out the cave mouth and on to destiny without need for a mother. She found it unsettling.

Luke shuddered all over.

"What's wrong, dear?" she cried, worry piercing the unexpected barrier.

"Baby tired!" Talon cried.

"Baby?" Luke asked, sounding bemused. It shook once more. "No... not tired at all."

With a thunderous thud, it dropped straight down onto its belly. Its eyes darkened as Cornelia rushed forward. Sure enough, it was in stasis.

She couldn't help thinking of Hatchworth, saying calmly that he was ready for stasis and dropping instantly into it. Apparently Luke still didn't understand the concept, but just as readily came to the same point regardless. That helped a little with the feelings of uncertainty. Hatchworth had always been... interesting. And so was his child.

"Well, it's early yet, darlings. Let's go out and allow your new sibling to rest."

The others happily followed her outside to play. They had a very nice time until they heard the screaming.

 

The older robots were practicing small jumps that rattled the very stones around them.

"Mama!" came a shriek.

She looked up suddenly.

"Luke!" she cried as the other children looked at her fearfully.

Talon and Rabbit, with their long legs, bolted back ahead of her. By the time she arrived, the two of them were in the center of the cave, curled closely around Luke. She could just see it curled between them, shuddering and steaming frantically.

She hurried to them. Luke peered over its siblings and saw her.

"Mama!" it wailed frantically. "Gone! All gone!"

There it was. Why was the need of the child such an effective trigger to maternal instinct? But of course it was, that was at the heart of the relationship. And so she now felt the deep need to get to him, to comfort her child.

"I know, sweetheart," she said soothingly. "Let me through, Talon dear."

Talon and Rabbit parted and Cornelia curled herself around Luke, who was slightly smaller than she was. It settled against her and whimpered fitfully.

"Precious thing... I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were afraid to be alone, just like your papa."

"Like papa?" it sobbed.

"Yes, dear. Oh, I do hope he's alright..." She sighed. "I hope they all are. How they would love you all so! As I do."

"Love..." Luke murmured. "Mama loves me?"

"Yes, darling. Mama loves all of you. You are my precious children, and I have waited a long time to meet you."

Talon and Rabbit curled around them once more. Cornelia felt warm and safe here. It was much like the hugs back in the manor, with a significant difference in the dynamic! And yet, it was a good feeling, a familiar, right feeling.

"My darling little ones," she sighed. "How happy I am! But... we must be sure not to leave Luke alone again, alright? Possibly someday it will overcome its fear but for now we must be very careful not to leave it by itself."

"Yes, mama," came a chorus of metallic voices.

So it appeared that still more time must be spent in the nurture of Luke before the youngest could be activated. Cornelia was both disappointed and relieved. She was sure, with the increasingly visible parental traits in each successively smaller dragon, that the youngest and smallest would remember everything very well indeed.

 

"Mama..." Rabbit murmured one day, when Luke was about six months old.

"Yes, darling?" she responded sleepily. They had all been enjoying a bask in the sunshine. The weather was unusually mild, but sunny, and her steam powered children enjoyed it as much as she did. She had been obliged to fashion dark glasses for herself in order to be near them in the sunshine, however; a decidedly strange look for a dragon.

Rabbit wriggled uneasily. It was the most clear spoken of the children now, and was able to converse with almost the same ease as its mother. Talon still spoke in somewhat halting phrases and Luke, while it had never struggled with language, seldom had much to say.

"When will you wake up the baby?"

Cornelia sighed. It wasn't that she didn't want to meet her fourth child. But if her theories were correct...

"Want to meet little one, Mama," Talon faltered. It looked away immediately after. She had learned that this was due to embarrassment over its still primitive language skills. She stroked its back with her tail.

"Me, too," Luke said casually, contentedly snuggled between her and Rabbit. As long as it wasn't alone, Luke was content.

"I guess... we had better go ahead and do it," she said slowly.

They were on their feet at once. Rabbit jogged ahead, delightedly skipping and fluttering its vestigial wings.

"Gonna wake up Goldie," it sang. "'Cause that's all we're missing! Oh, yeah!"

She had heard the melody before... back on Earth.

Cornelia followed with the others, smiling despite her anxiety. She hadn't programmed a single one of them to sing. She didn't feel capable of doing so. And yet, one of the things they had turned out to be able to do was just that, sing.

It wasn't easy to sing as a dragon. But Rabbit, one day, had begun to do so, as if remembering something from its past. And Talon, to her astonishment, had joined in easily. In fact, it sang far more readily than it spoke. But Luke never did... something that puzzled Cornelia at first. She had heard Hatchworth sing, and he did so very sweetly. She eventually remembered that he had only ever sung when he thought he was alone. And Luke was never alone.

The children shuffled carefully toward The Jon's little dragon child, deciding as one to take care around its delicate form. Cornelia transformed and put on her robe, unashamed before her children of her nudity. Human skin meant nothing to her robotic dragon infants.

She stood uneasily before the delicate little dragon. She loved The Spine, adored Rabbit, doted on Hatchworth... and Jon, attracted her. Far too deeply, she had come to realize. She loved him, like the others, but he had a certain magnetism even The Spine had lacked and she was afraid to find out how much of that was in this child. The last thing she needed was a newborn acting sexy, no matter how she felt about it herself.

"Mama?" Talon prompted.

She took a deep breath and switched the little dragon on.

They waited together, listening to the faint sound of its motor. At last it opened its eyes and looked upon Cornelia.

"Mama," it said quietly.

"You know me, dear?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes! You're my mama."

Complete sentences, just like Luke. It would have worried her had the child not indicated awareness that it was her offspring. "Oh, darling! That's wonderful."

"Papa told me so."

Cornelia gasped. "How could he have told you?"

"He told me when I was made. When he put me into the vial. He told me I was a little of everything that is best about him, except one thing. He said that something must stay with him. He kept everything male for himself."

"He what?"

"He kept everything male, everything that might experience sexual attraction..."

Cornelia looked uneasily at the other three children, who were gaping in astonishment at the little robot's chatter. "We mustn't discuss such things, little one..." she corrected quietly.

"He didn't want you to be unhappy, Mama. So he made me a girl."

"He made you a girl? Just like that?" she cried. How had Jon known? Ah, but that was Jon...

"Yes, mama," she said, adding shyly, "And he wanted me to tell you... that he loves you."

Cornelia gasped, her hand at her throat. Jon had never actually said... he'd implied, of course, but never said... She felt tears come to her eyes.

"I love him, too. I love them all and hope that someday they may know their children," she sobbed quietly.

"But my papa is special. Isn't he?"

"He is." She looked guiltily at the other three, but they were staring blankly, giving no indication of annoyance or dismay. Odd.

The littlest nuzzled her mother gently with her smooth, golden head, and Cornelia put on hand on the little figure before her. A girl. Well, that was one she didn't have to wonder about.

"Well, come, little one. Here are three fine siblings for you, a nice family to care for such a dainty sister. I have programmed you to fly, but I don't want you to try until I can join you, alright?"

"Yes, mama," she piped delicately.

So sweet, Cornelia thought. This was what Jon would be like without any masculine traits. What a lovely creature! But she'd known that about Jon all along.

She wished she had a name for her. Should she make it similar to Jon? Joan, Jonna, Joanne? No, those seemed wrong somehow... 

She removed her robe and transformed so that she could speak to the older children. It was only then that it struck her that the littlest had been speaking English. She looked at her in shock. She looked back, cocking her little head, raising the delicate crest Cornelia had given her.

"Can you speak dragon?" Cornelia growled.

"Yes, mama," she responded.

"Clever little one," she murmured fondly. Should the name reflect that? Cleverness, or wisdom? She had no reference book to search for meanings...

"What baby say, mama?" asked Talon.

"She is a girl. She said that her papa made her so, and that... he loves us very much." It was true, sort of. He surely would if he was there. But she hesitated to say anything that might indicate she favored any one of their fathers... even Talon's.

"He loves all of us?" Rabbit asked, tipping its head sideways to peer at its little sister. She tipped hers to match.

"Well, yes... He doesn't know you, of course..." She wasn't sure what to say next.

"What he like?" Talon asked eagerly.

"Oh! Well..." This was better. "Her papa was a golden robot like her, you see... and your papa was bronze, Luke, and yours, Rabbit, was copper and iron, and yours, Talon, was titanium and aluminum. She remembers her papa. Do any of you remember yours?"

They looked at each other uneasily. She didn't think the older two did, but Luke opened its mouth.

"Yes?" Cornelia said eagerly.

It hesitated and grumbled, "No..."

"Oh... well... She probably won't tired for a while yet, so why don't we take her back out where we were? But I must carry her. She is very delicate."

"Yes, Mama," said Talon.

"Come on!" Rabbit crowed. "Come and play, Goldie!"

And the little dragon hopped from her perch at its call and gingerly padded along Cornelia's tail, settling between her wings.

"Goldie?" Cornelia murmured, bemused. Well, then. Rabbit in one world had named her Stella. Maybe Rabbit was the best one to name her little daughter, too. She couldn't deny it described her, and she came when it was called! "Do you like that name, little one?"

"Uh-huh," squeaked Goldie. "Papa called himself that sometimes."

How much did she know about him? Cornelia wondered. She craved more information but decided it would come on its own.


	23. Babies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children are a lot of work. That's why they start out small... usually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: chapter contains a scene of assault. To avoid spoilers for those prepared to read it anyway, I'll summarize the difficult bits at the end so that you can decide whether it's too much.

"Go to sleep, Rabbit!"

There was a wheezy giggle and a responding roar that shook the cavern where Cornelia slept. She blinked blearily into the darkness as dust sifted gently over the hoard of gold coins where she slept. _Here we go again_ , she thought. Every night. Every damned night.

"Mama said stop getting up in the middle of the night!" That one was Goldie.

"Not the middle of the night. It's morning!" Rabbit crowed.

Cornelia rose, shaking coins from her scales. She had no use for gold herself, but the Old Dragon had kept a hoard for sleeping. And that metal had felt so soft once she'd finally gotten the children into stasis... Which seemed only minutes ago!

"I guess Rabbit will have to find a new room," a voice said calmly. That was Luke.

"Yeah, let's go find it!"

"No, we're tired. You go by yourself."

Cornelia hesitated at the mouth of her cave. Rabbit wasn't afraid to be alone like Luke, but it didn't care for the dark. Odd, since its eyes glowed...

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"I'm too tired. I'll go in the morning."

"It IS morning! Ha!"

"Daylight, then. Goodnight, Rabbit."

"That's not fair!"

"Oh... remember last time you stayed up all night? You fell asleep at dawn. Guess you'd better finish your sleep cycle."

She heard Rabbit tromping around the cave for a few more minutes before silence fell. When she at last crept into the room, they were all in stasis, Talon curled at one end of the cavern, Goldie on her perch, Rabbit draped across Luke as usual. She stared at them in wonder. It had been very brave of Luke to bluff Rabbit that way... while it had Talon and Goldie for company, in the two years since they were activated, Luke and Rabbit had slept curled together every night.

She went back to her cave to sleep. It probably wouldn't work every night, but tonight, at least, thanks to Luke's calm thinking, she wouldn't have to stay up and watch Rabbit.

 

It was an adventure, to say the least, becoming a parent. She enjoyed watching them develop and change from the simple infantile modules into beings that were all at once like and unlike their fathers. But she was also very tired... more tired than she had been in her life, even when she'd had to sleep with one eye open to avoid being exterminated by her own father.

The first few months had been the hardest. Not the first few with Goldie, but the first few after Luke hatched (she found she only ever thought of them as having hatched). Talon was often emotional after Rabbit was hatched, but Rabbit was ecstatic about Luke. And enraged. In regular cycles.

And Luke? Cornelia had a very hard time understanding it at first. It seemed to have no emotion, no feeling. But as she observed closely, it turned out that it was calm and quiet, but felt deeply. It responded to distress by growing calmer, as if to neutralize the chaos with and equal measure of calm. It got along well with Talon, was always eager to nuzzle Cornelia, and had a tumultuous symbiosis with Rabbit, who was always either its best friend or worst enemy. But none of that registered with Luke; it was most noticeable with Rabbit, who expressed all the joy, all the rage, and much of the affection. Luke was content when Rabbit was happy, cool and collected when Rabbit was angry, and purred softly when Rabbit snuggled in beside it for the night.

She watched all this in wonder. Talon sometimes snuggled with the other two, but his size meant he didn't dare go into stasis near them for fear of damaging them. Rabbit and Luke were more like twins than ordinary siblings.

And when Goldie came along, the dynamic changed still further. She would sometimes curl up on their backs but was too fragile to cuddle them the way they cuddled each other. She would sometimes ride around on Luke to make sure he was never alone. Cornelia could feel something special about Goldie, and it wasn't just that she remembered her father.

She was still connected to him. Sometimes she would say things that only Jon would say, but that made no sense in any other way. She had nightmares and woke wailing because, according to her, a soldier had died. These wrung Cornelia's heart. Jon was still at war, then, hurting because of a death. And she had been forced to come here and leave them to it. She cried herself to sleep the first night it happened. Jon... sweet, tender soul! And she felt no less sorry about the others. But Jon, she was sure, must be feeling it far more deeply. Jon did that.

 

"Papa's happy, mama!" Goldie crowed one morning, just two years after Talon's hatching. "He's going home!"

"Is he, darling?" Cornelia cried. "Are they all..."

"I... I don't know. I just know papa is."

"Alright," Cornelia gulped. It was a slight connection anyway. Only little snatches came through their mysterious bond. But surely Jon's happiness would not be complete without his brothers.

Luke ran past her at that moment, Rabbit close behind. Their chassis glimmered in the sunshine and she smiled indulgently at them as they galloped in circles around one another. They didn't need exercise in the way real dragons did, but regular movement kept their joints lubricated.

Talon leaped from the cave in the next moment, sailed over her head, and landed between the others.

"Champion!" he roared as they scattered. Cornelia chortled as they leaped onto his back, attempting to defeat him. Her smile faded. They were battling for fun. Their fathers had faced real battle...

Goldie fluttered awkwardly onto her head and nuzzled her. "It's only play, mama," she said wisely. "Papa is going home, remember? His fight is over."

"Until the next war," Cornelia sighed.

 

"Ready for flying practice, Goldie darling?"

Cornelia stopped short just inside the main hall. Her children were all looking at her in shock.

"Oh, dear. What have I interrupted?" she asked.

It had been ten years. Ten wasn't a significant span of time in the life of a dragon, especially an automaton. But it had brought a few important changes.

Goldie had learned to fly. She'd needed a great deal of practice, however, as her wings were something new to the laws of aerodynamics, and Cornelia had needed to make several refinements to cure her of the unwieldy flutter of her infancy.

She'd also had to do a lot of work on each of the others. Rabbit had needed more rounded edges and greater flexibility. Luke was often overwhelmed by Rabbit's behavior and required sturdier parts from time to time; at the rate things were going, Cornelia hoped Luke would favor masculinity. It had actually gotten a bit larger with the adjustments, while Rabbit was more slim and graceful, suitable to be either sex.

And Talon now spoke very well, possibly better than its siblings, in fact. It was precise and professorial, and had come to take more of a leadership role as the years passed. Cornelia felt deep stirrings of maternal pride as he grew more and more like his father. No... as it grew more like its father. She still struggled with that...

And, it turned out, it was the very topic of the conversation she had interrupted.

"Mama... what am I?" Rabbit asked awkwardly.

"You're my darling child," she said, bemused. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Am... am I a boy or a girl?"

"Oh... I have left that choice up to you, sweetheart. As with all of you. Yes, even Goldie. She decided the day she joined us."

"But how do you know?" asked Talon. "How did you decide?"

"I am a biological creature. As such, I was born to my sex."

"Then how does it feel to be a female?" asked Luke.

She had really wanted to get out and fly, and now she wanted it more than ever!

"I wish I could say. I don't know that I felt especially feminine as a whelp. I can't really guide you in that. But I never felt masculine either. I... felt like myself." She sighed.

"That's no help!" Rabbit grumped.

"I know, darling. I feel female now, of course, now that I am a mother..."

And, though she would never have said so, because she had fallen in love. And less pleasantly, because ever since leaving the automatons who had, each in his own way, awakened her to her femininity, she had been burdened by the occasional resurgence of the mating urge. It was usual in adult females of her kind but only became active once they were either imprinted or reached a certain age. Well, she'd been imprinted, and aged, and never mated. To her dismay, this meant randomly occurring weeks filled with dreams of Rabbit, primarily Rabbit, or The Spine, or Hatchworth, or too frequently, The Jon... once or twice she'd dreamed of the twins and even once of both Col Walter and Iris! Sometimes she was human and sometimes, inexplicably, a dragon. They left her feeling decidedly awkward. She spent much of those weeks jumping into the nearby lake and cleaning very well in hopes that the hormones released would not attract males for miles around!

But she couldn't very well offer that information to guide her children! She looked at them in sympathy.

"Do none of you have any inclination based upon what you have seen?"

"We have only seen females, mother," Talon said.

He sounded frustrated and she wondered whether it was because he suspected he favored masculinity, but could find no guide to reassure him. Talon... no matter how much time passed, she still saw a son standing before her. How could he even consider being female? And Rabbit, so playful, seemed nearly as masculine at times. Luke, like Hatchworth, just was. She sort of saw it as male by default.

"Well, Goldie needs her practice. Think about it while we fly, dears. We can discuss more afterward."

They growled their grumbly farewells and Cornelia gratefully took to the air with her little daughter. A few pumps of her wings and she was hovering, waiting for Goldie to flap her way up to eye level.

"Bank right!" Cornelia called as they flew away.

Goldie did so, flapping to cope with a small eddy of cool air.

"Very good, darling!"

She cherished her time with this little one. She reminded Cornelia so much of The Jon. She had come to realize how precious that was. He'd always been so gentle, never asking anything in return. And little Goldie was the same way. Cornelia sometimes wondered whether she had erred in making her so small and weak, but it rather suited her. And of course, it meant that she could fly.

They had gotten several miles away from the lair when Cornelia heard a shriek. Goldie was startled and flapped frantically to remain airborne.

"Are you alright?" Cornelia called.

"Fine, but..."

The shriek came again. Cornelia's scales rose as a chill shot down her back. She looked ahead and her heart sank. She'd hoped this day would never come...

"Fly home, Goldie!" she cried. "Like Mama taught you! Get up into the bright sunlight and get home now!"

"Mama!" cried Goldie as the shriek sounded again, louder this time.

"Go!"

Goldie went, arcing neatly and making for home as fast as she could fly. Cornelia flew to the right as quickly as she could, heart pounding. He banked to pursue.

She'd been prepared for this, as much as she had been able. Sooner or later, a male would be downwind while she was in heat, and would come to service her. And he would consider her his after that. As much she sometimes craved release from the surging hormones, she did not want to be mounted and married and become some monster's bride to be laid at his pleasure and provide him with offspring to bully. She had often wished the old Dragon had been younger... there would have been a worthy mate!

The very fact that this one had scented her pheromones and come running, ready for action, told her he was the last dragon she would want to mount her. But her lack of interest would mean nothing to him. Traditionally, in the absence of imprinting, she was expected to accept the first male willing to pin her to the ground and take her. Ugh!

She realized very quickly that she couldn't escape. The turn had given him the opportunity to close the distance and she could feel the heat of his breath already on her tail. Once Goldie was well away, she slowed, weary, and moments after felt the clutch of claws as he roared his mating cry and grabbed her with all four legs, bearing her down toward the barren desert landscape. They hit the ground hard despite his attempt to slow her fall. Some would have considered him quite the gentleman. Cornelia considered him a most unwelcome complication.

She wasn't afraid, the way a human woman would be when faced with rape. She was frustrated, and feared the aftermath, the ownership, but the mating... to be truthful, she wished he would just do his business and leave. She wasn't entirely opposed to the activities. It had been a long time and in the nights when she had considered this eventuality, she had concluded that the male, when he showed up. could do her a favor and quiet her urges for years to come, as she understood it, with one mounting. It was empty and she'd far prefer it to be with someone she cared about, but she was a practical person and this was a means to an end... or so she tried to tell herself.

However, any hope that he just wanted a quick ride was dashed as he purred, "Why you make it so hard to catch you? You little and copper, you lucky to have me! I bet you lay lots of eggs but I lay you first, baby!"

This was, at least, roughly how it translated. Males were crude and uncouth most often and it was no wonder that the Walter automatons, with their kindness and gentility, had affected her the way they had. Even human males weren't much better, from the few that had made weak attempts to seduce her over the years.

She quickly reconsidered cooperating. It just wasn't worth it. Even if she later managed to escape while he slept off the effects of mating, she might find herself pregnant and he was not what she considered quality genetic material. She wriggled, testing to see whether she had even the least chance of escape.

"Hey, stop that!" he growled, surprised. "I'm just getting started."

She tensed, afraid now that it came to the point, bracing herself, only to feel instead the sensation of flames softly stroking her neck. He rubbed his head along her scales and purred deep within his chest. Was that how they started? She thought they just, well... did it. She felt her scales stand on end once more, and smelled, to her horror, a release of pheromones in response as he gripped her back legs and moved her into position.

Yes, she thought, all at once tingling with desire and disgusted at her physical response. This could serve a purpose...

No! She struggled once more. Just because she felt the desire to mate didn't mean _he_ had the privilege of being the one to satisfy that desire! She felt a cold wash of dismay at the fact that she, for a few seconds, had really, _really_ wanted it.

"Stop it!" he snarled, sinking his claws into her thigh. She shrieked in pain. "You gotta hold still, stupid! You gonna ruin it!"

She closed her eyes and tensed, shaking, sure now that the limited foreplay of the dragon was complete and the rest was going to be very much business.

She felt a thud on her back and cried out, only to realize that nothing had entered her anywhere. No, the thud was the dragon being knocked to the side. She looked around to see something laying on the ground.

It was Luke! It was offline and there was a dent in its head plate.

"What the hell is this? A toy?" cried the dragon. She felt a ripple as he shrugged. He inhaled deeply and raised his hips.

And cried out, falling halfway off her back. Cornelia twisted and saw Rabbit clinging to the beast's neck, all four delicate, ornately crafted clawed iron paws sunk deep into his scales. The dragon roared and rolled over onto Rabbit, pinning it.

"Another one?" it snarled. "These friends of yours? What the hell are they?"

"We're her kids, creep!" Rabbit hissed. "She ain't y-y-y-yours!"

Cornelia gasped, staring at Rabbit in wonder. It sounded just like its papa... if its papa spoke dragon.

"You freaky little jerks. What kinda papa you have? I gonna give her good babies, kill all of you and start over."

"No!" Cornelia roared. But she didn't dare act; it had Rabbit pinned!

"I fix this, baby," the dragon said soothingly. He looked down at Rabbit once more and snarled.

Rabbit glared up at him and bit him square on the snout. Blood spurted onto it and the big dragon roared in pain. He tossed Rabbit across the barren landscape.

Cornelia was trying to make her way to Luke, who still lay where it had fallen, terrified that there might be serious damage. She risked a glance at Rabbit and saw that it wasn't moving.

 _Please, no..._ She couldn't save them both! She heartily wished they hadn't come...

The male turned on her. "You almost more trouble than you worth! What you think you are, anyway, trying to fight back? Who does that?"

He sprang, trying to get onto her back again, and was tackled in mid-air by a flash of blinding light. It was Talon, roaring with a sound the likes of which she had never heard, from it or any other dragon. It was terrifying! But what could it do? She hadn't taught any of them to fight... it would end up just like its siblings!

Yet Talon was fighting, with a savagery terrible to see. The big male had been caught off-guard at first, having had no indication of a rival dragon anywhere near its size. Talon, as a robot, did not have the scent of a male dragon. But he couldn't miss the presence of a gargantuan titanium beast pinning him to the ground and slashing at his hide with refined steel claws.

The male soon recovered from the shock and began defending itself, twisting to the side to throw Talon off. Talon hit the ground hard and just as quickly sprang again, grabbing the male by the neck and bearing him to the ground.

The male was far older and better experienced in combat, but Talon was powerful, largely insensible to physical pain, heavy and without any visible physical vulnerability. Beyond that, it looked terrifying to any mere dragon and had the driving motivation to protect its mother and siblings.

When it came down to it, the male never had a chance. Almost before Cornelia had the chance to register what she was seeing, Talon stood, bloodied, over the lifeless body of her attacker, its enormous bellows pumping steam rapidly from its stacks.

Rabbit was sitting up, to her relief, on trembling legs. "Talon?" it gasped, looking at its sibling.

Talon glared down at the corpse and snarled, and Rabbit recoiled.

"Mama..."

It was Goldie. She settled onto her mother's back and curled against her scales. Cornelia heard her sobbing softly.

"Thank you, darling," she whispered to her tiny daughter. "Thank you all, my dear children."

"Are you okay, Mama?" Rabbit gasped. Its eyes were still on Talon, who hadn't moved from where it stood.

"I am, thanks to you all. But we must see to Luke now. And this brute may be of some service... If we mark the area around the lair with his scent, other males will stay away for quite a while."

"Mama!" gasped Goldie. "That's... that's grotesque!"

"I don't relish it, sweetheart. But what is done is done."

"I had to!" Talon said suddenly. "I... I had to protect you! He was hurting all of you!"

"Hush, sweetheart," she said gently. "No one is angry. You did what you had to do."

"Yes!" it cried, staring down at the battered corpse once more. It closed its eyes.

"Talon?"

"I had to. To protect you all..."

"Oh, dear..." she murmured.

Talon opened its eyes abruptly. Its expression hardened as it took one last look at the dead dragon. It turned away, looking back at its mother and saying one word before trotting home.

"Male."

And then he was on his way without another backward glance.

"Oh..." she murmured, staring after him. "It seems your sibling... your brother, has made up his mind."

"Brother?" Goldie squeaked.

"Talon is a male."

Rabbit fidgeted briefly. "Me, too!"

"What?"

"I'm a male too! Just like Talon!"

"Now, darling, you don't have to decide just because he did..."

"I protected you, too! I'm a male just like Talon!"

"Is that the only reason?" she asked carefully.

Rabbit blinked at her. "N-no..."

She sighed. "Very well... son. Can you help me carry Luke home?"

Rabbit shifted his legs and tried to stand. "Um... no, Mama. I think I'm broken."

She sighed and sent Goldie to bring Talon back.

 

Within a few hours, she had Luke back online. He had knocked a few things loose but they were easily reconnected. Rabbit's legs, to her relief, had a similar issue. Once she found the damaged wire and replaced it so that signals could once again reach his limbs, Rabbit was back to leaping as usual.

Luke was informed that it now had two brothers instead of neutral siblings. She half expected it to immediately declare itself male like Rabbit, but to her relief, it simply said, "Ah. Very well then." She wouldn't object if it once decided it was male, but she didn't want it to choose rashly.

As for Rabbit, he seemed secure in his choice, but Cornelia still had reservations. She would treat him as a male, not that this would be much different that she had treated him while neutral. It was a slight language adjustment, nothing more.

Goldie sometimes shook her little head when Rabbit was referred to as a male, but made no other comment. She stayed behind, tucked away with Luke, while Cornelia and Rabbit ventured out to do the ugly deed of relieving the dead male of the necessary glands to mark the area with his scent. They couldn't persuade Talon to leave the lair, or even to speak. It worried her but she supposed it was to be expected, considering the events of the day. But Rabbit was perfectly fine and ready to help perform the grisly business of removing the gland and dragging it around the desert. Once that was done, they dug a pit to dispose of the body so as to prevent any invading males from discovering that the male they had scented was in fact dead. She didn't need any males turning up to comfort the "widow."

By evening, their work was done. Cornelia washed thoroughly but couldn't entirely remove the pheromones from the male's attempt at seduction. She sniffed uneasily at herself and felt her scales rise. It was going to be a long night. She tried turning human and found it helped. Her sense of smell, when thoroughly humanized, detected far less of the subtleties of the mating scent. She still shuddered at how close she had come, and how much she had craved it. She comforted herself by recognizing how humans often were physically attracted to a handsome but idiotic mate.

The children were naturally harder to settle that night; Talon remained curled into a resting pose and she had a long talk with the others about what had happened that day, and why. Rabbit, at the end of her explanation, said he was glad "they" had killed it and that they could do it again any time she needed help. But Cornelia, while thanking them all for saving her, said that the use of his scent would serve far better, and that she did not wish them to kill unless there was no other recourse. She caught movement from Talon in that moment and winced inwardly; she could tell he was already troubled by his actions and now he would think she disapproved!

"Sometimes..." she said awkwardly, turning her head his way, "we find it necessary to do things that trouble us, or that we would not do under ordinary circumstances, for the greater good. Even if it hurts or frightens us. You all did this today... Goldie flew home when she did not wish to leave me. Luke, Rabbit, and Talon fought a monster to save their mother. I am very proud of you all."

Goldie fluttered over and curled up on her back, Rabbit and Luke quickly joining her. Talon curled into a tighter ball. Cornelia sighed. _Poor love... you have always been so gentle..._

 

She wasn't terribly surprised that night when cries summoned her to their cavern. Talon was thrashing in stasis and the other children were huddled at the far end of the cave, terrified. Cornelia sent the three of them to her room but none of them moved. She was glad of this a moment later when Luke leaped forward and intercepted a wild swing of Talon's tail before it struck its mother. Luke was strong and solidly set, well able to tolerate the blow, where it would have left her bruised and possibly bloodied.

"Luke!" she ordered. "Go in and brace yourself against his left side! Rabbit, take the right!"

They responded quickly. Goldie hovered overheard, staring down with wide eyes. Cornelia waited until Talon curled himself frantically around his siblings and began to shudder with sobs before moving forward. She couldn't help it... there was still risk, but Talon wasn't merely crying the way he had as a child. The sound of his frantic grief shook the very cave and Luke and Rabbit grunted periodically with the strain of reassuring him.

"Talon..." she said gently.

"Mo-mother... he's dead! He's dead!" Talon roared.

He coughed sparks and she jumped away. Talon saw her recoil and shut his eyes.

"I'm a monster!" he wailed, releasing his siblings and curling in on himself.

Rabbit and Luke stared at his shuddering form. Rabbit looked at her and said, "What can we do, Mama?"

Cornelia was fighting the instinct to comfort him, for her own safety. She had made Talon truly formidable, never expecting a situation such as this. She decided to stop resisting.

She stepped forward. The other children cried out but she continued. Luke trotted in front of her.

"He is too dangerous this way, Mother..."

"I can't leave him alone, thinking he is a monster. Let me by, Luke."

Luke stared her down. "Let us try again, please. If he hurts you, he will always think he is a monster."

She looked at it in surprise. "Wise child," she murmured. "Very well. Soothe him, and I will join you when he is ready."

Luke turned and curled himself against Talon. Rabbit, following its lead, curled around the other side. Their tails entwined behind them, to Cornelia's bemusement.

Then, as one, they began to trill softly. It took on a rhythm as it went, not quite music but harmonic. Cornelia watched, fascinated. Goldie landed and added a soft, high note that fit perfectly. In time, Talon seemed to relax. He rumbled a low, rich note and Cornelia's heart fluttered. So like their fathers!

Luke looked up at her and gestured with his head, jerking it slightly toward Talon. Cornelia padded forward and rested her head on his, breathing a soft puff of fire; a soothing warmth even for a robotic child.

"Thank you, my dear child," she murmured. "You showed courage beyond any I have yet seen and you saved me from a terrible fate. He would not have given up until I was his and our lives here were destroyed for good and all. Your instincts were sound. I know you would not have acted otherwise. I only wish you did not have to live with the memory of it."

"Can't you take it away?" he whispered, eyes closed.

"What? Well... it is possible, I suppose, but then you would have no memory of having acted to save me. And I am very proud of you for that. It is..."

She thought quickly. He would surely insist, now that he knew she could remove the source of his pain. But it was the events of today that had brought home to him the awareness that he was male. To remove the memory of those events would be to set him back, to deny him that understanding. And she accepted now that no matter what she did to protect them, sooner or later it would be Talon's fate to have to defend himself and the lair. She had assured that when she had let her heart decide he must be a large and magnificent dragon. He was. And he must live with her choice... and represent himself as an alpha male.

But that was, of course, the answer. The Spine had always taken pride in being a leader within his family, in keeping things going and being their strength. If his son shared that quality, it would be the saving of him now.

"It is the role of the alpha male in the family to protect the females and children."

"Alpha?" he murmured.

"Yes. The largest and strongest male, usually also the eldest, takes on the responsibility of protection. He is not limited to this," she added quickly, not eager to direct him toward being too brutish, "for he can be so much more. But it is one of his duties, and not an easy one. It can be painful, but with courage and strength he can stand strong and perform it. And it is very much to be admired, when a good dragon protects his family when needed, while retaining that gentility that so many alphas lose. You are just such a dragon, Talon. You are the alpha of our family."

"But you are head of the family, Mother..."

"Yes, but I cannot be alpha. As you saw, I lack the size and strength required. I am not lesser for it, I am simply not qualified in the way you are. I am head of the family, but you are our protector. If you wish to take on the role, which traditionally goes to a male."

 _"He_ was a male," he said bitterly.

"You don't have to be that kind of male, darling. Your father isn't. He's strong, and wise, and protects his family, but he is not a brute. He doesn't hurt the innocent, he isn't a bully. He is kind, as all your fathers are. That male that attacked me today is the reason we need more males like your father... and like you."

He opened his eyes. How could an automaton show so much emotion? She had designed him and still marveled at the pain and struggle reflected there. But more than that, she saw a light of hope, the effort in summoning his courage.

"I will be like my father, then. I will accept it, Mother, so that you and the others can be safe."

"I am very proud to have such an alpha, my little one. You are still my dear child, still their brother. We will comfort you in your struggles as often as needed to enable you to continue your role. No alpha should have to perform his duty unaided."

Rabbit and Luke rested their heads against Talon as one. Goldie at last flew in and landed on his head.

"Thank you, brother, for saving Mama," she chirped.

Luke nodded. Even Rabbit, for once, didn't have a tantrum because someone else was getting all the attention.

"Thank you," Talon murmured, his systems creaking with weariness.

He sank into stasis soon after. Luke and Rabbit said they would stay where they were and Cornelia when back to her cave to try to sleep. It was some time before she could. She could tell Talon about his father, but what he needed now was a male, a good one, to guide his steps. And all he had was her.

She would simply have to tell him how The Spine was, and hope he could glean what he needed from that. As for Rabbit... maybe he was male, maybe just copying Talon. Either way, she would go along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Cornelia takes Goldie out flying, ten years after she activated the robots, she is attacked and pinned by a roving male. Goldie flies home for help but Cornelia is sure she will be forcibly taken and resolves to either break free before he can mount her or wait him out and escape when he's done. She'd prefer the former but he's a lot bigger. Since she is copper (a soft metal) and unusually petite, she is considered of less worth as a mate and knows he will not expect her to resist or escape. He thinks he's a real suave guy by dragon standards and that she'll be grateful for such a powerful mate. So she figures he'll fall asleep and she'll be able to fly away, maybe leave a scent trail in the wrong direction before heading home the long way around, because if he finds her lair he will not hesitate to tear her children to pieces and settle in to stay. He has her well and truly pinned and she accepts that it's inevitable, and for a moment the mating ritual begins to overwhelm her since she is unmated and has reached sexual maturity. Despite the feelings of physical desire creeping over her, she doesn't want it and struggles, and is clawed for her trouble. Before he can follow through, the children arrive. Luke rams into him from the side but is knocked offline. Rabbit pounces claws first and puts up a pretty good fight but is too small to do more than slow him down. Talon then tackles him at full gallop and the male never stands a chance against Talon's steel tipped claws and raw robotic power. Talon kills the male and stands looking at what he's done. He announces abruptly that he's male and charges home before she can speak to him. Rabbit quickly says it is also male even though Cornelia is in doubt about it. Rabbit and Luke are incapacitated and Goldie has to bring Talon back to carry them home. When they are repaired, Rabbit assists her in the gruesome job of cutting out the male dragon's glands and dragging his scent all around the lair to ward off future interlopers. They then bury the remains. Talon later suffers nightmares because of the event and they must comfort him, but only Luke and Rabbit can get near because of his size and agitated state. Cornelia thanks him and helps him cope with what he's done by explaining that as the oldest son, as he has decided he is, he is the alpha, and tells him what it is to be the alpha male, and that the alpha doesn't have to be a brute but sometimes must defend those he loves. He accepts the responsibility and begins to come to terms with the horror of the day.


	24. Uncle Edgar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia receives a terrible news, a very surprising visit, and more new developments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because. Long chapter.

Cornelia woke abruptly one night to the sound of shrill wailing.

Luke trotted into her cavern soon after, more alarmed than she had seen it in all its life.

"Goldie is crying, Mother! Rabbit can't get her to stop!"

She hurried after it, alarmed. Goldie hadn't woken crying in years! She had told Cornelia about those of her visions that worried her, from time to time. She had told her that Rabbit, the one on Earth, had fallen in love with a honeybee. She still didn't understand what that meant, but Goldie insisted he was very heartbroken about it. She felt pity for him, and hoped he would feel better soon, but she couldn't help smiling. As attractive as he was, trust Rabbit to fall in love, at long last, with something even more hopeless than a dragon.

But what could be upsetting Goldie, now that her father had long since returned from the war, some nine years previously? Cornelia hurried, but feared very much to find out.

"Goldie, darling! Whatever is the matter?" she cried, hurrying into the room the three of them shared. Talon had taken a room of his own some time after assuming the role of alpha.

But Cornelia didn't see the little dragon anywhere! She looked at Rabbit, who peered at a small hoard of pretty pebbles Goldie had accumulated. The hoard shifted and Cornelia could see the shimmer of golden scales.

"It's alright, darling. Come out to mama."

"Mama!" Goldie wailed, darting out to her. She curled into her neck and sobbed.

"Darling, please tell me what's the matter!"

"She came out of stasis crying, Mama," Rabbit said nervously. "And she crawled under her hoard and wouldn't tell me anything!"

"Oh!" Cornelia sighed. "Oh, precious, you've only had a nightmare, then. You know our little Goldie was the first to dream."

"She _is_ very dreamy," Luke said matter-of-factly.

Rabbit humphed and curled into a ball. "Well, I can dream too! If she sto-sto-stops screamin'!"

Cornelia smiled indulgently. Unlike his father, Rabbit only stuttered when upset. He also tended to be envious when she pointed out anything special about his siblings.

"I'm sure you can, Rabbit. You're such a clever thing."

Rabbit made no response but relaxed visibly. Luke, who never minded when its siblings were praised and it wasn't, shrugged and curled up next to Rabbit to sleep.

"Come along, Goldie. Let's leave them to rest and you can come tell Mama what was so upsetting about your dream."

"Wasn't a dream..." Goldie whispered, creeping up onto her mother's back. "Something... something made me so sad!"

Cornelia took her to the library. "What made you sad, then?" she asked as they walked.

"I... I don't know. I remember that I was crying, and saying that they couldn't lock him away because he would be so lonely..."

"Lock who away?"

"I don't know. I think... it was my brother. They were going to lock away my little brother. Because he was dangerous. He broke..."

"Well, doesn't that prove it was a dream? You have no little brother to lock away."

"But I did! I was sure he was! I kept crying and saying, "Let me go in with him, then! Hatchy is scared to be alone!"

"What?" Cornelia gasped, her blood suddenly running cold.

"And I heard him tell me no, that he wasn't afraid anymore... And the door shut, such a big, heavy door, and I cried and cried..."

Cornelia was reeling. Was there even a chance that Hatchworth had become dangerous and was locked away? But no, she had to believe it wasn't true. She couldn't get back to help him if he was broken! To think of Hatchworth being locked away, Jon crying and heartbroken over it... She could barely endure the thought! She had never seen Jon act the way Goldie described... He sounded inconsolable. And for all she knew, they were the only two who had returned at all!

Even as she grappled with the emotions threatening to overwhelm her, she received confirmation.

"Where are you, Stella..." Goldie whispered.

"Goldie?" Cornelia choked.

"That was the last thing I said in the dream. What's a Stella, though?"

Cornelia swallowed hard. She had no doubt anymore.

Hatchworth had been locked away.

 

Five years passed, filled with renewed attempts to reestablish the portal she had once used to come back. She knew she couldn't return to Earth to stay, and she wasn't even certain she dared attempt to visit. Though her children were thriving with her, she did not think they were ready to do so without her. Only the tiniest one could even fly. They could fill their own boilers but not do maintenance. She hoped someday to make that possible as well.

But she had to try to see him, at least! And if she had her way, she would retrieve Hatchworth and bring him here rather than leave him to suffer alone. She hoped to be able to repair him once she'd had a look at the damage.

And then, early one morning, a portal opened in the center of the courtyard where the lab once stood!

Cornelia, busy with her research, would not have known had it not been for the children's shouts and for the fact that someone came through it. She trotted out when she heard their cries and saw a human man carrying a carpet bag, staring at them all in wonder. The portal flashed and closed as she galumphed toward him, swearing in frustration.

"No!" she cried miserably. "I needed to... argh!"

The man cried, "Stelle?"

She stopped short. "What?"

"It _is_ you, isn't it?" he cried. He sounded unmistakeably English. "I thought as much! How you've grown since I last saw you! Have you finally come here to live, or... I say, are you his mate now? Pardon if I'm mistaken..."

"Who are you?" she snapped, then realizing that of course he wouldn't be able to understand her.

"Oh, terribly sorry! I don't suppose you remember me after all these decades..."

She gasped. He understood dragonspeak? "Who are you?" she repeated.

"Oh! How silly of me, you've never seen me this way. I'm the old fellow's younger brother. I passed through once when you were a whelp. Went to England by way of one of his portals. There was no future for me here after... well, let's just say that I needed a change of scenery. I was no more welcome at home than you were, my dear."

"Oh!" she gasped.

He certainly did know her! If she thought very hard, she could just barely remember the Old Dragon introducing her to him, but had no clear recollection of what he'd looked like. It didn't matter much at the moment seeing as how he was in human form. She realized with a sinking feeling that he was talking as though his brother was alive. He didn't know, then?

It was confirmed when he said, "So where is he? Are these his automatons? They're absolutely stunning!"

The children had stood and watched them in bewildered silence and she realized why soon after; she had been the only example of a human form they'd ever seen. And they had never seen a male of any kind, with the exception of the dragon that had attacked her fifteen years before.

"No... they're mine," she said, all at once proud and uneasy. Better just be out with it. She was no good at gentility. "But, I'm afraid I have some troubling news for you. Your brother... he's not... here."

"Not here? Then where... oh," he said. "You mean... he's gone. He's... died?"

"Yes. I'm terribly sorry..."

"Oh, now, don't be troubled, my dear. I had thought it was possible... It's been at least a hundred years since I went to Earth. It is a shock but of course its no fault of yours. He was quite old... I'm getting on in years myself."

She didn't see it; his human form was older but distinguished, even handsome. But of course, he could look any way he wanted.

"I'm afraid this places me in a very awkward position, however. I returned because war has broken out once more in Europe. After the Blitz I decided it was time to find my way back. It took a couple of years but I was able to retrace my steps and return. I had rather counted on staying here with my brother, but if you have taken possession of his lair..."

"Don't feel that you are trespassing! In fact, I wish you would stay. I think you could help me a great deal. You see, I spent some time on Earth myself and I have been trying without success to reopen a portal there. I am very worried about... about some friends I made during my travels. I am that much more concerned now that you tell me that war has returned to Europe. The last I heard, they were bound for France to fight the Germans. That would have been in 1914."

"Well, then I think you need not worry that they'll be in this conflict! They'd be too old for conscription..."

"Ah, but these are automatons. The Walter robots of San Diego."

"Oh, well, then... dear child, did you know Colonel Walter, then?"

"Yes..." she said very quietly. There was something in his tone...

"Ah. Did you know that he... he's... well, passed on?"

She felt a terrible clutching feeling of shock. "It seems we were meant to give each other bad news," she whispered.

There was an ache in her chest. She had come to see the Colonel a something of a father, and as grandfather to her own young ones. It hurt to know he was gone, and more so that he would not be trying to repair Hatchworth. It was all on her, now...

"I'm very sorry... as to the robots, you are quite right. They have been sent over already. There were three of them sent to various locations, from what I heard in a newsreel."

"A what?" Only three? Did this confirm what Goldie had dreamed?

"You would have left before newsreels, I expect. It's a film... a moving picture. They sent three robots because the fourth had that terrible crack in his core and had to be placed inside of a vault in the manor itself."

"I see..." she murmured. She remembered the vault...

He looked at her sympathetically. "I am sorry, Stelle. I've come so suddenly and brought such unwelcome news. If I can help you in return for a place to stay, I would be most grateful."

"Thank you. Would you... um... would you like to resume your dragon form?"

He glanced around at the children, his gaze lingering briefly on Talon. "I've gotten so accustomed to this form!" he said pleasantly. "I know there are rooms to accommodate human forms. I can stay in one of them if that would be alright."

He turned toward the lair. Cornelia hurried to her robe and transformed, slipping it on before jogging after him.

"Sir... um... what might I call you?"

"Oh, I go by Edgar, these days," he said, glancing at her. "Oh, I say... what a charming form. Very dainty!"

"Thank you... Look, you are welcome to stay as long as you like but there are certain issues."

He stopped. "I apologize! It never occurred, you were so young when we last met... Do you have a mate, then?"

"Oh! Quite the opposite... that's the problem. I mean, that I am living here alone and, well... as a female..."

"I won't take advantage of you, if you're concerned. There _are_ dragon males who believe in taking any available female as a mate, willy-nilly, but I have never been one of them. I know it's hard to believe, but I assure you, we _are_ real."

"Well..." she sighed. It was worse than that, but oh so hard to discuss. "Get some rest and we can discuss it later this evening."

He nodded politely. "Perhaps this evening you could come and chat? I would like very much to hear what has gone on in my absence."

"To be truthful, I have only been back in Snornia these twenty-seven years... But I would be glad to chat! I want very much to hear what has gone on in that time on Earth."

"Lovely!" He hesitated, then took her hand and kissed it. "Earth customs, hm?"

She smiled. "Thank you. Until this evening."

She returned to the courtyard with the children to explain what had happened, and what would happen next.

 

She dressed in her simplest dress that evening. She still had the exquisite green ball gown, but it hardly seemed a formal occasion. She took him a simple meal, lacking the ability to cook much. He had given no indication of being interested in transforming, for whatever reason.

She told him what she remembered of his brother while he ate, explaining that he had died quietly, in his sleep.

"I am glad to hear it. I know Father would have been shocked to hear of his son dying quietly."

"How in the world did you and your brother ever come of such traditional parents?"

"I'll never know, I suspect. But since we came from different clutches, about one hundred years apart, it suggests that somewhere in our family there must be a deviant gene."

She laughed. "A deviation I am very grateful to have come across. I would have been alone otherwise in rejecting the ways of violence and force and brutish behavior. Your brother took me in, eventually, because my father at last gave up trying to find me a suitable mate and instead tried to kill me."

"My dear, how dreadful!"

Cornelia nodded. "It hurt more to have been deemed worthless than to have had to flee his lair. He'd never treated me well, though I have heard of worse. I was small, copper, and studious. A complete disappointment! But my small size was my salvation when it became necessary to hide in the rocks around the lair until he grew weary and went inside."

He looked at her sadly. "Poor child. And you made your way here?"

She nodded. "He had already asked me to come and stay. I worried about how it would appear to others. I really shouldn't have feared. If they assumed he and I were mates, no one would have given it a second thought, and I would have had no need to fear my own father. But I had already come to embrace the human sensibilities discovered in your brother's research."

"True. An aged dragon with a young bride wouldn't have troubled anyone. And as to his research... you are certain you want to try and open a portal? It's no easy task, as you know."

"I do. You confirmed what I had already feared... that Hatchworth is locked in the vault at Walter Manor. I... have a transmitter of sorts, that receives little snatches of news from Earth." She wasn't quite ready to discuss the romantic entanglements of her stay there, and to discuss her children in relation to their fathers... well, she didn't know him well enough for that. "I would like to attempt to reach him and make repairs."

"You don't know the extent or nature of the damage, though, surely?"

"No, but then I had intended to bring him _here_. We are far more durable and the spaces are open. He would be no danger while he waited for me to find the answer. I can't bear the thought of leaving him locked away! He was always afraid to be alone..."

"Do you think you can persuade them to let him come here?"

"Uh... I had intended to place the portal inside the vault and bring him whether they allowed it or not," she replied hesitantly.

To her relief, he smiled. "I see. Perhaps that is best, considering how much energy is expended in keeping it open. Well, it's a very kind thing to do, my dear, but I have concerns. To place a portal inside the vault! Directing it at a single point is dashed difficult."

"I realize that, but I mean to attempt it, with or without help."

"Well, as you like. I'll be glad to assist. There's no serious harm in it, I suppose. I have no wish to leave this old lair just yet anyway. The business I must eventually attend to isn't exactly attractive after escaping a war-ravaged world."

She didn't wish to pry, but she was growing increasingly curious as to what this business could be. Considering it was in Snornia, however, she could only assume it had to do with other dragons. And she could see why he'd want to procrastinate it.

"And as I said," she told him, "you are welcome here. I must point out, however, a delicate matter that could become an issue..."

"Human sensibilities again?" he asked with a smile. "Don't want to shock the neighbors?"

What neighbors? "I'm afraid not. Very real, very relevant dragon issues. As you know, I have no mate. However, I have been imprinted but was unable to mate with the object of it."

"I see."

"And I have reached maturity, thus there will be times when... well..."

"I understand," he said hastily. "You'll come into season..."

"Yes," she sighed.

"If you wish me to leave during those times, for your peace of mind, I will. I think that I have the willpower to resist, but I defer to your wishes."

"I hope that won't be necessary," she murmured. "But thank you. I simply wanted you to understand the complications of staying."

"I do." He sighed and added slowly, "I... am very sorry to hear about the imprinting. I hope it didn't hurt too much."

"It wasn't easy. But he didn't feel the same way. It... wasn't what I was led to believe. About imprinting, I mean. I thought that it was either a myth or true love. Apparently it's biology and not always reciprocated."

Though she couldn't help remembering that last kiss. For one tingling moment, she could have imagined that Rabbit had fallen in love with her. And despite the warmth she felt for The Spine, the concern for Hatchworth, and the lingering throb in her heart whenever she thought of Jon, she knew that if only Rabbit had felt the same, there would have been no competition. But she also knew that Rabbit, petulant, childish, and petty as he could be, would have driven her to the brink of insanity despite the biological need to be near him. It was why she had felt only sympathy when she heard about his broken heart... thought she still wondered how he had come to fall in love with a bee!

She smiled through tears at Edgar, who told her softly, "It's never as simple as they make it out to be, is it? They want dragons to marry, and make more dragons. That's how we keep going. Well... unless it doesn't quite work. I... was married twice, did you know?"

"Were you?" she asked, surprised. "Then you have children?"

"Alas, no. My first wife left me when no eggs came of our union. The second died young, but I knew that she ached for whelps of her own. They were both arranged marriages, but she was a sweet lady, and I loved her. We imprinted, where I did not do so with my first wife."

"But... then, it isn't really necessary to the species? I knew that, I suppose..."

"It wouldn't be very practical. You imprinted and he didn't. How cruel to damn you to live alone because of it. I never cared for that myth..."

"It wasn't! I mean, I felt it, it was very real..."

"But was it real? Or merely another way of saying you fell in love?"

"It was... complicated." It really hadn't been love, not exclusively... She'd felt love and desire and what happened with Rabbit was beyond either. "So your second wife, then... you fell in love with her?"

"At first sight! There's a fine myth for you! But I did. And the way she looked at me..." He sighed, smiling. "You know that legend about the wicked dragon king and the maiden?"

"Unfortunately," she murmured, feeling a pang. _Hatchworth..._

"I never believed a female could have scales like that but I swear she did! She was so beautiful! Ionized scales, very rare. The first time we mated..." He stopped, smiling sheepishly. "I apologize again. Do you know, I still feel guilty that in her short life, she never had children. I thought everything was perfect, but how she longed for a whelp of her own!"

"It wasn't your fault..."

"I know. But it doesn't stop the remorse. That's life, hm?"

"Well," she sighed, feeling rather drained and wanting to be alone with her thoughts, "I should let you get some sleep. Are you sure you want to stay in here, rather than resume your dragonform?"

"Ah, no. I have seen your Talon eying me and I suspect he would regard me as a rival male..."

"Um, yes," she mumbled, rising. "He was obliged to defend me from a rapacious male some ten years ago and has ever since been trying to become a suitable alpha to protect his mother and siblings. He regards me as the head of household, of course."

"Good. I am glad to know that you are well protected. I'll see you in the morning."

"Rest well."

 

Within the week, to her relief, they were already preparing the portal. Materials were scarce and they soon concluded she would have enough only for one brief trip. Once the materials were gathered, they began construction on the generator needed to power the process, as well as four signal transmitters.

Over the next few weeks, they made good progress. Edgar was a capable assistant, in that he knew as much as she did but still remained in human form, unable to do the bulk of the work. As time passed, the children, who had learned English along with dragonspeak, grew more comfortable with him. Goldie would ride on his shoulder sometimes, or Rabbit and Luke would sit on either side of him and watch him work. Talon remained aloof, in that he was trying very hard to seem so but often watched with great interest. She wondered whether they were interesting in the construction or in Edgar.

He had become a favorite around the cave. She sometimes found him telling them about Earth and the things he had seen there, or commenting on their construction. Sometimes they told him about themselves, and he always listened. They were eager children and seemed to have taken him into their hearts in much the same way as Cornelia. She was glad; she had thought the Old Dragon was the only male worth knowing, and here was another of the same sort.

And every evening, they would sit in his rooms and chat about Earth, science, and life in general. It was good to talk to an adult again! It had been so long.

"Edgar," she said one evening. "Might I ask what your business is? You've been here a month and still not set out to do it."

"Well, my dear, I have been terribly busy."

"And I am very grateful! But if it isn't too much of an imposition, I must admit... curiosity has gotten the better of me."

"I think I can ease your suffering then," he replied pleasantly. "I  was no longer welcome at my father's estate when my second marriage ended without issue. He had already been terribly disappointed in my brother and here, from a second clutch, was another male who had failed to continue the family line. It was no fault of my own; I had been reasonably fond of my first wife and had adored the second and I can promise you that I made every effort to do what was expected of me."

He winked ever so slightly and to her embarrassment, she blushed.

"Ah, yes, quite. Terribly sorry, my dear, if I was coarse."

"Not at all," she said uncomfortably, looking away. Something in the very suggestion that he was able and very willing to mate had, to her dismay, set her heart pounding.

"But that was the state of it," he carried on blithely. "I had tried, and nothing had come of it. And my father told me to go. He could have chased me away or killed me, so I do appreciate that at least. And to honor that one meager show of respect, I mean to go back and pay one last visit. If he is there and still wishes me to go, I will. If he has died but remarried and produced an heir to replace me, again, I will leave. But if he has died without additional offspring, I wish to be sure that my sisters are all cared for and that there is no unfinished business. I guess it all comes down to a bit of homesickness."

"But you and your brother are so different from your traditional family! How could you want to go back?"

"It wasn't always terrible. And they are far from the most brutish dragons I've known. As I said, though my father was unable to cope with the shame of my sterility, he never tried to harm me or my brother, who refused to marry in the first place."

"He never told me that," she said, surprised.

"He confided to me later that he had never felt the desire to mate. It simply had not occurred, like a tooth that never grows in. He reached adulthood and as you saw was a large and impressive male, with absolutely no mating instinct. But try and explain that to a traditional dragon! I understood, to a degree, though I never lacked in that area myself."

He said it matter-of-factly, but the suggestion that he had more than enough mating instinct sent her heart pounding once more. The room felt unusually warm. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Are you quite alright? Your face is very red."

"The subject matter is... rather personal," she lied. Was she coming into season early? It wasn't due for weeks yet!

His cheeks pinked slightly. "I beg your pardon! Well, to be brief, my father did not mean us ill. He just didn't understand. I was happy enough there until my second wife died, despite the tension every time we visited them in their cave. I was studious like my brother, but also understood the ways and traditions of my people. While I am a bit out of practice at being a dragon and never really came into my own as an alpha, I think I can manage to settle affairs should any conflict arise. I hope I can."

"Ah. So things were better than in my home..."

"Very much so, from what you have told me."

"I'm glad to hear it."

He sipped his drink and she watched him as his lips pressed the glass. She shuddered and gasped slightly. As he looked up questioningly, she hastily changed it into a yawn.

"You're weary! Do go on to bed, my dear. Or hoard, as the case may be. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes... of course."

She rose hastily and hurried out, heart thundering in her chest as he pressed her hand briefly on the way past. They were almost ready to make the attempt to reach Hatchworth, after which she hoped he would go on to his business before she came fully into season and lost control entirely. She hoped very much she wouldn't, of course.

But that night was filled with dreams of doing just that.

 

The children had to be told as they came close to finishing the work, that Luke's father was hurt and needed their assistance. Goldie looked at her in shock as she explained.

"Mama... it wasn't just a dream?" she squeaked.

"No, little one. Your dream was about Luke's papa. Your papa was crying because his brother was being locked away. That was your dream."

"Oh!" gasped Goldie. "Poor papa!"

She began to cry. Cornelia sighed. It was still odd to see a dragon cry, even though her children always had.

"Now, darling. If we can retrieve Hatchworth and repair him, your papa will be so happy, won't he? So take heart, my little one."

Luke murmured, "Poor papa, all alone in the dark..."

It, too, began to cry. Talon rolled his eyes but Rabbit crept close to Luke and pressed his head close. Luke settled against him and shook with misery.

"Luke, darling," sighed Cornelia. He never cried! "We will make sure he isn't afraid anymore, alright?"

Luke nodded and Cornelia hastily returned to her work. She was more determined than ever to make contact.

 

The day arrived. Edgar set up the transmitters and primed and powered the generator. He was sure he could maintain it for several minutes while she explained to Hatchworth, but she was still uneasy. She knew where the vault was, and that it was very thick. If she was trapped inside with him and Edgar could not open another portal... that would be the end of Cornelia.

She dressed in her old clothing and joined him in the courtyard. All the equipment was ready and waiting. Her children stood around her nervously. She reassured each one that it must be done, that Luke's papa was hurt and she must bring him home.

Whether she could figure out how to repair him was another matter.

Edgar fired up the machine and nodded to her. She smiled nervously, heart pounding in anticipation, and walked through the shimmering portal.

It was dark. Her eyes adjusted and she saw him, resting on the floor of the vault, head down. She dropped to her knees, opened his vest, and began to examine his hatch. There was a terrible crack across it...

His systems hummed and came to life. "Stella...?" he whispered, placing his hand slowly over hers.

"Hatchworth!" she gasped, tears in her eyes. "Oh, I have missed you so much!"

She embraced him, overcome. Her dear friends... So long apart! And now she would be bringing one of them home!

Hatchworth held her carefully away from his core. "Stella! Sweet Stella, have they brought you home to repair me?"

"No!" she said quickly, rising and tugging at him. "I have come on my own to bring you to my home, sweetheart! They cannot repair you but I am certain I can..."

He stood creakily and looked down at her with a little smile. "Stella... That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

"There is no time for... You use contractions now?"

"Pappy found the error and corrected it in time for the war. And I'm so happy to see you again, little Stella... but I can't come back with you."

"Why?" she almost wailed. She didn't know how much longer the portal would stay open.

"They're expecting me here, Stella! They'll open that door any time, ready to repair me! What will they think if I'm gone?"

"They'll... Oh, they'll cope! Please, there isn't much time!"

"So you know how to repair this?" he asked calmly, tugging his opened vest away from the gleaming core. A ghostly tendril of blue curled up from the crack.

"Yes... Well, no, but I just know I can..."

"And if you can't? You'll be at risk yourself. Sooner or later. Am I right?"

"Hatchworth, please! I can't just leave you here! You're so afraid to be alone!"

"No, dear Stella. Not anymore. I can wait."

"But what if it takes them another 100 years? What if they never find the answer?"

"Then you must help Col. Walter find it, my dear. But I will do the right thing. And now you should go, before your portal collapses and you are trapped here."

"No!" she almost screamed. She didn't have the heart to tell him about his pappy, not here. "Please just come home with me!"

"I just can't. And if you remain you will die. They don't open that door, ever. I do want to come with you,  I promise, I want it so very much. I have missed you more than I could ever express, even before I came into the vault. But they trust me to be here, and I can't risk harming you. That's not love. I won't be free at your expense."

"Then... then I'm staying!"

"What?"

"I... I love you! I need you! And I won't leave without you, so you'll just have to come with me!"

Again, the smile. "Stella... Sweet Stella, do you love me best, then?"

"Yes, of course!" It wasn't far from the truth, and if it meant he'd come with her, she was ready to love him as deeply as he wished. She'd always been ready, with each of them...

"Better than The Spine? Or Rabbit or Jon?"

"Yes, yes, please hurry!"

He caught her by her shoulders and pulled her close. _Not here, not now,_ she thought frantically. She really didn't want to leave without him, and she certainly didn't want to starve to death in the vault.

But he showed no sign of haste as he put his arms around her and kissed her softly. Any other time, she would have melted. Whether it was her own longing or his, she didn't know, but the strength of it was overwhelming. Her hair stood on end as she felt to her very bones how much he had grown and matured since she had last kissed his lips. Part of her wanted never to leave while the rest of her feared exactly that. She reeled at the passion of his embrace even as she chafed at the delay.

He at last pulled away and looked, smiling sadly, into her eyes. "What a kind lie," he murmured.

"It wasn't!" she said breathlessly.

He shook his head and whispered, "I love you. Don't forget it."

And with that, he caught her up in his arms and threw her through the portal. She shrieked as she flew through and landed on her bottom in the lab. The portal closed with a flash, and the generator screeched and ground to a halt.

She stared at the empty space, tears welling in her eyes. There was no telling how long it would be before she could get more fuel and materials to power the generator. Some of them had been very rare, left behind by the Old Dragon. They were around but so hard to get! Assuming the gulf between worlds didn't shift too greatly, she might be able to visit him from time to time... But he wanted her love exclusively. He made no demands but he wanted it all the same. To visit and wake him again from his stasis would be cruel... Unless she had learned to repair the damage. So she would just have to solve that mystery...

Edgar hastily helped her to her feet. "It seems he disagrees about the course of action."

"Yes," she said, her voice trembling. "I wonder if he really is as content as he says he is..."

She remembered abruptly that the children were in the lab. They'd been so quiet...

Luke approached and nuzzled gently against her head. "It's alright, mama. We heard you both. You don't have to explain."

She blushed hotly. They'd all heard, including Edgar!

"Darling," she whispered quickly. "I am so sorry... There was no chance to tell him about his child!"

"It's alright. I saw and heard him, mama! And he is so good and so brave. I am very proud of my papa."

"Oh, Luke. You precious thing."

"Mama..." he growled. "I... feel that I am a male. Not as the other dragon males, but a male like my papa, and like Mr. Edgar."

"Luke, love... Are you quite sure?"

"I am. I see that not all males are brutes. They are not, and neither is my brother."

She wondered which one he meant. And why had he mentioned only one brother?

"Alright, dear. You will be regarded as a male from now on."

"Thank you, mother."

She sighed and looked up to see Rabbit looking at them thoughtfully.

"Well," she said. "Three boys and a girl. The final tally, I presume?"

Rabbit shrugged impressively and turned to trot out of the room. Luke stared after him.

"Is something wrong, darling?" she asked.

"No," he mumbled. He padded to Goldie who hopped onto his shoulder with a flap of her wings. Talon shook his head.

"What is it, Talon? What are you all hiding?"

"Nothing, mother. That's the trouble."

"What?"

He sighed and nuzzled her head briefly. "Sir," he said politely to Edgar before following Rabbit out.

"Mama?" Goldie piped.

"Yes, little one?"

"Hatchworth is not afraid. He gave his fear to Luke."

"Luke?" Cornelia cried.

She expected him to look up in shock, but he didn't. He knew?

"When he made his sample... he didn't know it would become his son. And so he gave his fear to it, so that he could be free. If he had known..."

"He would never have done it!" Cornelia finished.

"Yes, mama."

"Do you understand, Luke? He wouldn't have done it on purpose."

"I know, mother," Luke replied calmly. "Don't worry. I know now he never meant to hurt me. And I am glad to know he is free of all of it and is not afraid."

He and Goldie left the lab.

"Stelle," Edgar said pleasantly. "I believe we should have a chat about these automatons."

"Which ones?" she asked weakly.

"All of them."

 

As she and Edgar dined in the human portion of the house that night, she asked him yet again whether he wanted larger quarters.

"No, my dear. I've been in this shape a long time," he explained. "I couldn't find many chances to resume my true shape on Earth, and as such learned to keep it restrained."

"It must have been excruciating," she said sympathetically, thinking how powerful he must be to resist such a primal urge.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and it troubled her. The thought of him being able to resist a powerful urge... made her think of him succumbing to powerful urges. And it felt like her thighs were on fire.

She swallowed hard and breathed slowly and calmly as he finished his meal, trying not to let it worry her. She wasn't due, by her reckoning, to come into season for another month. Was the presence of a male hastening the process?

But Edgar was happily oblivious as he sipped a delicate wine his brother had put away centuries before. "This really is lovely. Are you sure you wouldn't like some?"

"Quite sure, thank you." The last thing she needed to add to her already unstable state was alcohol, even a small amount of it.

"So I am a man. But I will, before long, need to transform and set forth to see about affairs long left unattended. I hope that I will find a welcome there."

She felt a most troubling surge of dismay at the thought of him leaving. "Well, you're always welcome here," she managed. "One might even say it was your right to own this lair after your brother died."

He smiled. "I consider it very much yours, my dear. You returned to it and brought it back into repair, and have raised children in it, after a fashion. Speaking of whom..."

Here it came. He knew she had built the children. He didn't know she hadn't actually invented them from scratch.

"You want to know why Luke refers to Hatchworth as his father."

"To say the least. I want more to know why all four of them resemble those human form robots. And though I don't wish to meddle in affairs of the heart, well... Questions have been raised. I admit to being very curious but I am also concerned. You seem very strained. I am willing to hear, if you'd like to unburden yourself."

She did want to! She hadn't had the chance to talk about it in years... but as to the strain, she was very reluctant to speak!

"Well... after your brother died, the lair became mine by rights of residence. The scientific apparatus, the research notes, everything I needed to make my own journey. No one challenged my right to inherit, to my surprise. I think they were all afraid of what might be inside."

He laughed. "They should be! Especially now."

"Very true. Talon takes his role as alpha seriously."

"That would explain why he calls me 'sir' and yet stares me down."

"Good manners, scrupulous attention to proprieties. He shows you respect and expects the same. A most worthy son." She sighed. "So much like his father."

"There it is again! How, pray, can any of them have fathers, Stelle?"

She smiled nervously. "Not through the usual means, to be sure! I came to Walter Manor to get help in returning home. Your brother's research had worked but I was stranded. When I was obliged to leave, I was heartsick. I had grown more attached to Col. Walter's automatons than to any organic being I had known. I was... I was in love."

"With... a robot? I apologize, my dear, but..."

"Robots. I believe that in one way or another, I was in love with all four."

"All four?" he gasped.

"It sounds terrible, I know! Each one is precious to me, and each in a different way. But they were more humanlike that I had anticipated. As my children are like living dragons."

"Touché. They are indeed beings unto themselves. And the Walter robots also?"

"They were exquisite, Edgar! From first to last. I first formed an attachment to Rabbit. He had the most beautiful construction and a warmth no machine should be able to have, and I was moved as a scientist, and moved aesthetically. There was one trouble, however..." No way around it this time. She wanted him to understand. "I was also moved sexually."

He coughed and wine spattered his trousers.

"I should have phrased that more carefully," she groaned.

"You were what?" he cried at last.

"Something about him drove me into maturity. I found myself imprinted upon Rabbit. He was made largely of copper. If you recall, my scales are also copper. I believe this was a large part of the connection."

"But Stelle! At your age, surely you had already experienced... well, some kind of awakening! Most females achieve sexual maturity by the age of forty!"

She wished he wouldn't keep talking about awakenings and using the word "sexual," though she had used it herself. But it was different when he said it... And she was almost positive now that something had misfired and she was coming into season. She found her gaze sliding along his body far too frequently, and couldn't seem to stop picturing what little she remembered of his dragon form from years before. But she was still in control, to her relief.

"I hadn't," she said breathily. She swallowed hard and continued. "I had begun to wonder whether I, like your brother, was free of mating instinct. He and I had dwelt happily here for many years without so much as a hint of primal response. I see now that he gave off no pheromones to trigger such a response." She wondered whether she was responding to Edgar's pheromones... why would he give them off, though? Surely it was just a fluke... "But Rabbit, I suppose, must have artificially triggered the response due to the copper."

"And you found him attractive."

"Yes," she sighed. "That's the answer. He was tall and beautiful as a being, ornate and articulate as an automaton. Add the copper, the tiniest chemical connection, and I suddenly wanted... well..."

"No need to explain that. I've been married. I know the feeling."

"Thank you. When the Colonel found out, he started experiments designed to wean me from the need for Rabbit. And he succeeded."

"Did he really? That does suggest that imprinting exists separate from love, but to be weaned from it without gratifying the desire..." He stopped short. "I'm assuming it didn't involve gratifying the desire. Am I correct?"

 _Don't say things like that!_ She rubbed her neck absently. "Yes! At least, it was not necessary to mate. We sat close together only."

"Oh!" he laughed, sounded relieved. "Right. Then I am impressed with Walter's research. But you have four sons after four automatons..."

"Oh, well, when, as I said, it was time to leave, I was required to do so in haste and leave no notes behind me to lead others to follow. I had been found out as a dragon and that put the entire household at risk. Knowing I might have no other means to return, the four automatons took it upon themselves to tap their own cores so as to give me a sample to trace back to its origins. It was ridiculously dangerous of them and when I came to discover it, I realized that each sample was a part of its parent. It had a very limited sentience, or some of them did, but retained traits of the source. As such, I felt I had to provide them with a proper form to live..."

"Stelle..." he said in wonder. "You took their seed of life and made them bodies! No wonder you regard them as your children!"

"Just how I saw it. It was... overwhelming. I love them all so dearly, Edgar. I had chosen at the time to live out my days with The Spine, but I felt an attachment to each one! I saw The Spine as the one most likely to be a good match, you see, an intellectual equal and a dear friend. So naturally he was the one..."

She frowned. Rabbit had been petulant and Hatchworth, even now, felt too young. But Jon... Sometimes she felt as though he was in the room with her. Goldie still whispered random phrases she could swear were from Jon...

"Those are certainly good qualities in a mate. But as to these samples... I am genuinely fascinated, my dear. how much of the parent would you say they retain?"

"Talon, from what I can tell, has the noble and affectionate feelings of his father, but retained very little knowledge. He had the largest core and I believe that deeper feelings are retained better than data in that suspension. As such, what little knowledge his sample had was dispersed. He was obliged to learn to live as a dragon from his infancy. But he reminds me more of his father every day.

"Rabbit has very much his father's personality, but is far more active and ridiculous than even the Rabbit I knew. He has a fault that makes him alert even in stasis. He can wake at will and I have yet to find the source of this quirk and correct it. And I still have some hesitation over his choice to be male."

"Choice? You think, then, that it is up to them?"

"I always have. They are robots. And Rabbit, the first one, was originally designed to be a female. The war they had to fight as new robots, I believe, made it necessary to alter the design and Col. Walter didn't bother to correct it afterward. But he was always masculine... well, enough so that no one there had any doubts. I certainly didn't! But when Talon made his choice, Rabbit immediately chose the same. He always seems to copy Talon in important choices.

"Luke, like Rabbit, woke able to speak, but I believe he did retain some memory. He knew the pet name they had given me. Stella."

"But I call you that! It's your name!"

She laughed. "I was going by the name of Cornelia Spot."

He snickered.

"Yes," she said dryly. "That was how Rabbit responded. I thought it was a very good name, thank you."

"It is," he chuckled. "It's very... cute. Would you like me to use it?"

"If you want. I hadn't intended for it to be cute, but as you like," she sighed. "Luke has one important trait of his father, his fear of being alone. And as Goldie said, it would seem that Hatchworth took the opportunity to rid himself of his fear by pouring it into the sample. I am relieved for his sake, but I don't know what this means for Luke. As you see, there is always someone with him. Goldie and Rabbit usually.

"And Goldie, well... she's very special."

"Had you run low on supplies when you made her? She's very dainty."

"No, I... I wanted one to be able to fly," she said quickly, too embarrassed to tell him the truth.

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"So I made her small and gave her large wings. When she was activated, she had her personality fully formed. Her father, she told me, had known that the sample would become his child, and chose to have a daughter."

"But that's staggering, Stelle! He is so far advanced that he can manipulate the nature of his own matter to that extent?"

"He is special, too. And yes, he did manipulate it."

"Then... That suggests that he alone among them knew, and trusted you to be the mother of his child!"

Cornelia put her hand to her chest. Her heart had given a terrible lurch at his words and she fought tears.

"Stelle?"

"Yes," she whispered thickly. "He did... But they would all love their children, I'm sure of it! I wish they could meet them."

"Yes, but... You say you loved all of them, but how did they feel?"

"They loved me, too. I can't understand why! Rabbit was just a friend, and Hatchworth too childlike to feel more than the pains of a youthful attachment." She hesitated. She had been in his arms just a few hours before! That kiss... hadn't felt youthful... "But The Spine was very much in love with me, and The Jon..."

She was blushing again, and not because of Edgar. Jon...

"What was the nature of your relationship with Jon?"

She swallowed hard. "I cared for him, as I did for all of them..."

"And he must have cared for you deeply, to have sent that sample with the assurance that you would do the right thing."

"Please..." she whispered, aching. Sometimes she felt she missed Jon the most of all! He had been so tender, so gentle...

"I'm sorry!" he said, standing and taking her hand. "Please don't cry, my dear! I did not mean to stir up old wounds."

"I miss them so much! I had hoped if Hatchworth came home with me... It wouldn't be so painful without... without the others..."

She couldn't help it. She was crying. Edgar looked at her worriedly and she turned away.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be, my dear. Here..."

He pulled her gently to her feet and into his arms. She gasped and relaxed as she realized he was merely trying to comfort her.

"Thank you," she murmured. "Dragons embrace, but human hugs are rather special."

"I was afraid I was being presumptuous, but I know the good of it myself."

He stroked her hair and her skin tingled. She felt her heart pounding and her concerns rose once more. Her face was against his chest. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Stelle..." he said huskily. "I... believe I will start my journey tomorrow. There's nothing to gain from putting it off."

He knew! He felt it... She was sure of it. She was touched by his gentlemanly gesture, even as she felt a stab of dismay at his words. Something deep inside her wanted him to stay, wanted it to happen, to transform and feel him do the same, pin her down and... Her fingers curled into his shirt and she inhaled the scent of his body, shivering... His stiffened and his arms tightened around her. She felt her blood quicken... it was almost unbearable!

He released her hastily. "I should prepare. I... I'll return within the month to see how you all are getting on, alright?"

She sighed and turned to go. Her face was hot. She hoped she wasn't smoking...

"Of course. Edgar..." she said as calmly as she could manage, her breath still coming fast. "Thank you."

He looked at her sidelong and smiled awkwardly. "You're very welcome, my dear."

As she walked out, she saw a tiny tendril of smoke curling from his collar.

"Oh, dear..." she whispered.

 

The following day, they all went out to see him off. She watched, shamelessly enjoying the sight as he stripped off and packed his clothing into his carpetbag. He had chosen to make his human form decidedly well formed...

She heard the children snickering softly. They'd never seen a male human body before and Rabbit was especially amused at some of the less practical looking members that his mother lacked. She shushed them, giggling silently.

He turned red as he struggled to change shape, out of practice at doing so, but at last managed it. Cornelia gaped in shock as he stood before her.

He was titanium! She'd swear to it! His silvery scales shimmered impressively as he stretched and turned to face her. It took her breath away.

"Now you see why I didn't transform sooner. I think Talon would find it a bit threatening."

He was right. Talon was glaring at Edgar, watching his every move. Cornelia had never discouraged Talon's pursuit of masculine behaviors, but she was beginning to regret that choice.

"I'll be on my way."

Edgar touched noses with three of the children, nodded to Talon who nodded stiffly back, and at last stopped at Cornelia. He started to touch noses with her and hesitated. It was akin to a kiss, touching noses... innocent with the youngsters, but more suggestive after their moment of longing the night before.

Cornelia hesitated as well, before at last leaning forward and nuzzling his head. "Come back soon," she murmured. _Hopefully once I'm no longer in season..._

He looked surprised at the affectionate gesture. "I will. Farewell!"

He flapped his wings, hovered and caught up the carpet bag in one claw before flying away.

After he was well away, Rabbit turned to stare at her. "Ya shoulda mated with him," he said bluntly.

"Rabbit!" she cried sharply.

"But Goldie said..."

"Shut up!" Goldie crowed.

"I told you not to say anything about it, Rabbit!" Talon roared.

"Here we go," Luke groaned.

Rabbit bolted, Talon in pursuit. Luke trotted after to break it up. Cornelia, still in shock, stared after them. Luke always saved Rabbit and then had to pamper him for a while as he played wounded swan...

Meanwhile, Goldie was piping, "Sorry, mama! I only meant that he was a very nice dragon..."

"Really, Goldie! I'm surprised at you!"

"Papa is too far away to be your mate, mama..."

"What?" gasped Cornelia.

"You love him..."

"I love all of them!"

"Oh..."

"This... we shouldn't..." Cornelia spluttered. "You're too young for this kind of talk!"

"I know..." Goldie peeped, hanging her head. "But... Mama... Papa wouldn't want you to be lonely, would he?"

Cornelia sighed, staring after the twinkle of reflected light that was Edgar. She wondered what his dragon name was...

"I'm not lonely, darling. I have all of you."

Goldie cocked her little head but said nothing.


	25. Companionship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornelia makes a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end of the story, I promise. It's just the beginning of a stage in her life.

Edgar was indeed back within the month. He had a few scrapes and scars but Cornelia, watching him carefully land, still admired his appearance. What a pity he had never been able to pass down those exquisite scales, especially with his beautiful second wife! The children would have been magnificent to behold...

She'd been at work in her lab when Goldie had called her outside. Talon had seen a dragon approaching in the distance and was pacing fretfully. Despite his show of masculinity, he was visibly relieved when they saw who it was. He had no love of violence.

Cornelia, however, had mixed feelings. She was delighted to see him again, and worried. His choice to leave when he did, presumably to avoid the awkwardness of being around when she was ready for mating, had worked in the sense that when he had gone, her cycle had reasserted itself and she never went into season at all.

The bad news was that by her usual cycle, she was due to go into season any day now.

Edgar landed and greeted each of them. Talon was no longer glaring, but still maintaining constant eye contact. Cornelia fought the urge to tell him to stop it; Edgar knew protocol and gave a respectful dip of his head, which Talon acknowledged as alpha. And with that, the tension was eased.

They all settled in to hear what had happened to him while he was away to cause so many scars. Rabbit and Luke wriggled together on their bellies to get the best spot; they were both very fond of stories and adventure. They settled at last, tails curled together and heads on paws, listening. Goldie sat on Cornelia's head and Talon curled around them both. Edgar looked at them with the fond expression of a father and began.

"Well, as your mother has already heard, I was obliged to go back to my ancestral lair and see whether I was welcome there. I once had to leave it," he continued quickly, as Rabbit opened his mouth to ask why, "because I was sent away by my father when I proved unable to produce offspring to further the family line."

Goldie squawked indignantly at this but Talon nodded solemnly and rumbled. Rabbit and Luke shushed them as one.

"I was ready for anything from having been replaced by another son who could produce children, to finding my father dead and the lair abandoned. What I found was that and more. It seems my father did take another wife, late in his years, and she had laid a clutch of three eggs; two females and a male. When they were only twenty years old, he died. As such, my step-mother and her whelps were unable to defend the lair and were cast out of it. They have survived, taking refuge with her family. When I returned, the lair was inhabited by a brutish male. I had to make a decision... leave things as they were, or act in behalf of my family until my brother was old enough to maintain the lair. He is approaching maturity but will not be a fit alpha for some fifteen years. At that time, it would be up to him to retake the lair or find his own. And until that time, anything I did in his name would be acceptable. If I waited, it would bring him humiliation, but while he's still a juvenile, I am free to act as alpha."

Talon nodded again. Edgar was very much speaking his language.

"I had seen this male, and I had seen my brother. I knew that even with an extra period of growth, my brother would still be unable to defeat the thief. But I also knew that he would try. He's spirited and bright, but the loss of the lair burns in his thoughts and he might just act before he's ready. It was plain that I had no choice."

Edgar paused for dramatic effect and Cornelia chuckled as the children wriggled impatiently.

"I did what I had to do. I gave the male that had taken the ancestral lair the choice of leaving voluntarily, very much hoping he would accept! He... uh... did not." He sighed. "So we fought. He was seasoned, violent, his scales toughened with scars. Had he not been as stupid as a lump of clay, I would never have been able to get the better of him."

"You won?" cried Luke.

Edgar chortled. "I assure, I did, Luke. If I hadn't, I would be dead."

"You killed him?" squeaked Goldie.

"I did. Such are the laws of our people, my dear. I don't relish the fact or the memory. I came here to escape violence. Ironic, hm? Not the place you'd expect one to seek out for a peaceful stay."

"How didja be-be-beat him?" Rabbit roared excitedly.

"Well..." Edgar looked at Goldie. "How about I tell you boys that later? I can see that Goldie finds this distressing."

She did. She had burrowed under Cornelia's wing, shivering. Talon turned to her and rumbled softly, reassuring her. He had never stopped making the sound and it put Cornelia in mind of a purring cat.

"Quite right," Cornelia agreed. "He's just arrived and needs time to recuperate. But... what will prevent other males from taking over the lair in your absence?"

"Well... I have to make sure I am never absent for long. Not until the boy is older, at least. Even then, my occasional appearance will help keep locals in mind that a gleaming silver beast took down their fiercest male."

"Was he really?" gasped Talon, wide-eyed.

"He was. But I am as large as he was. I'm just not much of a fighter. To be honest, there was some luck involved."

"Well, come on. Eat and rest and you can tell the boys later."

Cornelia took Goldie out on a flight that afternoon to help soothe both their nerves while he told the tale of his fight with the thieving dragon male. Goldie didn't like violence any more than her father. And Cornelia had, with a sinking realization, plummeted straight back into heat at the thought of Edgar bravely fighting and defeating a brutish dragon for the sake of his family. It moved her emotionally and primally and she didn't know what to do now... The heart-stopping flutters she felt in Walter Manor, even for Rabbit, seemed weak now. She felt the pounding drive to mate and she was afraid to be anywhere near Edgar!

But the flight also gave her time to think about something that had been burning in her mind while he was away. The more she felt the hot and cold flashes of longing arc across her skin as he told his story, the more she felt she had to at least ask him.

She took a dip in the coolest mountain pool she could find before they returned home, and felt somewhat better. But she was relieved to hear that Edgar had finished his story and taken human form soon after, returning to his quarters. She did the same gladly; it was much easier to cope in human form.

 

The children were in stasis. Edgar sat with another glass of his brother's delicate wine, chuckling over the thought of himself in combat.

"I never would have believed I could do it, my dear," he said. "Sometimes I still get the shakes remembering! I hope I never have to do it again."

"As do I! It was terrifying to hear."

"Was it? I'm terribly sorry! I know you've embrace humanity as I have, but..."

"No," she interrupted. "Don't apologize. I understand."

He sighed. "To live here is to accept certain requirements, isn't it? It isn't so much compromise as survival."

"That it is. I... grapple with my own struggles."

"About that," he said quickly. "Stelle, I realize I have placed you in a very awkward position in returning. I hadn't realized the delicacy of your condition..."

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

"I... pardon me for speaking so frankly about it, but I felt more than saw that you were experiencing a certain level of... well, that you were vulnerable to male influence, shall we say, when I was last here."

"Oh, my..." she cried, blushing.

"I'm sorry... please don't be embarrassed, I only meant that I could detect the hormonal changes. I concluded that you were approaching season and left. I had thought you would be past it when I returned. I... well... realized when I arrived that I was mistaken. So I will return to the other lair tomorrow morning rather than cause you further discomfort."

"Yes, well..." Time to speak. She took a deep breath. "I do appreciate your willingness to help me, but I must ask you to stay a bit longer..."

"Oh?" he said, putting down his glass. "Do you need help with a project?"

"No. Edgar, I'll be frank as well. I can't go on like this. I... have been struggling with the agony of unfulfilled need since before I came here. I was in love but more than that, maturity had been initiated. You know what that means for us."

"I do indeed..." he responded carefully.

"I must ask you for something and yet I don't dare presume..."

His face was getting red. "My dear, if it is what I think it is... I'm not sure what you're suggesting."

"Then let me clarify it. I _need_ to mate."

Edgar put his hand over his eyes. "It's what I thought it was..."

He tugged at his collar, unbuttoned the top button, caught her eye, and buttoned it again hastily. It was almost comical, but she was in no mood to laugh.

"I cannot endure this another cycle," she persisted. "As long ago as sixteen years, my need was so powerful that I almost gladly allowed a brutish male to take me forcibly, in order to relieve the strain!"

He looked like he wanted to flee the room. His hands gripped the arms of his chair. "Stelle! You allowed a male to..."

"No! I almost did! I couldn't go through with it and even so, my sons came to my rescue. Talon... I never told you, but Talon killed the male who attempted it. At the tender age of ten he was alpha already. He had nightmares for years. I think that's why he is trying so hard now... he wants to feel strong..."

She sighed and looked at Edgar and felt another surge of longing. It was almost a hunger...

"Edgar, please! I ask this of you as a friend. It costs me dearly to make this choice but the strain has become unbearable!"

"'Has become unbearable?'" he asked nervously. "Since when, exactly?"

"Well... It's always been a struggle, but I had learned to cope. But recently, not long before I went to try and retrieve Hatchworth, I could feel an increase in the usual drives. By the time you left, it was excruciating! I suppose the prolonged failure to mate combined with the presence of a male aggravated the condition. I don't really care why, honestly. Please... if you feel any desire at all to be with me, then help me!"

He looked horrified and she felt even more uncomfortable. Was she _that_ unattractive?

"Stelle..." he gasped. "I don't know what to say. I'm so terribly, _terribly_ sorry for this... It's my doing, of course."

"Your doing?" she cried, astonished.

"Well... yes. You surely are responding to pheromones I am giving off."

"But you were in human form the entire time! Surely you don't give off the mating scent in human form."

"I could... if I felt arousal myself."

She was speechless.

"My dear girl... I must confess to you that I was here only a few weeks before I began to notice... certain feelings developing for you. I didn't want to presume..."

"Edgar... then you _are_ attracted to me!"

"I am," he sighed. "Very much. I have in fact come to... to feel a strong regard for you, my dear, a deep emotional attachment..."

"You love me," she said flatly. Even The Spine had been less awkward than this! "You're trying to say you love me."

"Yes," he sighed. "At my age, yet. It caught me quite off-guard. And the moment I realized it I began to feel a strong to desire to... to be with you. So yes, you are responding to my scent! My dear, I can't apologize more. I will leave in the morning and limit my visits in the future rather than force my influence upon you."

"No!" she gasped. It was so perfect now! He loved her, and she wanted to be with him so much!

"Stelle, please! I want nothing more than to... well, give you what you ask. But you are compromised! You were vulnerable already, and then I arrived and added my own desire to the mix. That's how it usually occurs, you know. The male scents the female's readiness and arrives with the correct response and nature takes its course. And I assure you, I feel the same urges and you are responding to that scent. It would be inappropriate to mate with you now. I feel as though I would be taking advantage of you."

"Please..." she said in a trembling voice. All this talk was making it worse, as if her whole body was covered in a terrible rash! And he could put a sharp halt to her suffering...

"No, Stelle, don't abase yourself! You break my heart, dear child! But no... You are no child. That's why I have come to admire you so deeply. You are strong and bright and have raised these children alone, and I hoped to be around more to help guide them, to be the male influence you've wanted in their lives. But Stelle... I am traditional at heart. I would not be your lover unless it was to become your mate. And you are very young still, and have a complex situation, feeling as strongly as you do for your beloved robots back on Earth. You cannot even choose one of them. How could I come along, an old dragon, and offer another path to further confuse your mind?"

"Edgar," she sighed. "As to your age, I am more moved by a meeting of like minds than any perfect union of age and situation. And if there is one thing I have learned from my time with those robots, it's that I have the capacity to love many and still love each one with all the fire in my heart."

"Enough to give up any hope of the four and become my mate? I have no wish to ask such a thing of you, my dear girl. But I also would not choose to cheapen the act of mating by doing it for convenience. I respect you too greatly to reduce you to such animalistic behavior. So I ask again... would you honestly be willing to take me as your mate, and remain so for the duration of my remaining years, though it would mean your love for them would be placed in suspension? For those are my terms."

"I agree to those terms."

"I'm afraid I could never accept."

"What?" she cried.

That was a dirty trick! The conversation was going too long as it was, and he just kept adding complications! She wondered whether she should have just kissed him and hoped that he responded...

"As I said... You're not yourself... Your judgment is tainted."

"Then accept this, Edgar! While you were away I was calm, clear-headed, free of the drives that burden me now. And when I considered my situation, I recognized that there was very little chance now that I could ever be with any of those four automatons, no matter how much I care for them. And that I would be very happy with you in any case. We have much in common and I have enjoyed every conversation with you. I do love you, if not in the same fiery way as I love them. I love and respect you. And I find your human form attractive and you dragon form well nigh impossible to resist. For further reassurance, my own children have urged me to become your mate."

He laughed aloud and she shivered in frustration.

"You almost persuade me."

She groaned.

"I propose a compromise."

"What in the _world_ could be a compromise in such a circumstance?" she cried.

"I will return home for two weeks. When I return, give me your honest choice the moment I arrive, cold, uninfluenced. If you decide after that to commit to spending my remaining years as my mate, then I will join you that very night and make you mine on your bed of golden coins."

He made it sound so sexy like that! Cornelia bristled inwardly but recognized the logic in his suggestion. She had clung too long to cool reason to rush into things now, and besides, he had made it plain that he could hold out forever, and would not agree any other way.

And deep down, she did want to get away from the influence of his pheromones and have one last good think before committing. She'd considered mating with him to ease her condition. She hadn't thought in terms of marriage.

 

He left the next day, as planned, promising the children that he would return in two weeks. He nodded respectfully to Talon after nuzzling the others, as before. And Cornelia... He hesitated once more before nuzzling her head almost longingly. With a guilty backward glance, he flew away. She suspect the look was due to the fact that he had left her to think clearly, but had indulged in the equivalent of a lingering kiss goodbye. She had enjoyed it.

She flew every day of his absence to her favorite cooling pool to calm her feelings and study the situation. She thought of The Spine, of Rabbit, Hatchworth, The Jon. It ached, but she knew there was almost no chance now. Their lives had gone on, as had hers. She raised their children, but those same children meant that she could never return, as far as she could predict. She had once dreamed almost nightly of feeling The Spine's lips on her bare human skin, and nearly as often of The Jon undressing her. Less often it was Rabbit or even Hatchworth, though he still seemed so innocent...

But for the last month, she had dreamed of the gentle glow of cavern walls, titanium scales on her back, and the tickle of flames on her neck.

She had to keep living. She would weep for what might have been, but who knew what that was? Would she have chosen one of them, and found the rest devastated? Would The Spine stand strong if she chose Jon instead? 

Why did she wonder that? She had once been so certain... But the more time passed, the more The Spine faded and Jon filled the space. She supposed it was because she sometimes had little snatches of his thoughts by way of Goldie, where she heard nothing of The Spine. But both were in another world now...

"Spine..." she whispered, alone in her room a few days before Edgar was scheduled to return. "I hope you're not waiting for me. I can't wait any longer for you. I'm sorry, my love."

She ached as she thought of him. The memories had dulled a little with time but she still remembered the touch of his hand on her bare skin. He hadn't felt cold.

In the next moment, she remembered Rabbit's kiss, the last one they had shared. It had felt so much like The Spine's...

And Jon, tenderly kissing her cheek so close to her lips that it made her dizzy. She longed to know what it would be like if he once surrendered and showed her how he really felt... But each time she thought of it, she felt a pang of guilt. Yet she still felt so close to him...

And Hatchworth. He loved her. Plain and unadorned, possibly with no hope of anything but a tender kiss.

She couldn't choose any one of them without others hurting. Even if she could go back, she wouldn't. She missed them, and they missed her, she was sure, but at least she didn't stand between them. If they had gone on this long, they would go on forever.

By the time Edgar returned, she had made her choice.

 

"Mama! He's back!" Goldie crowed.

She started and Goldie squeaked in surprise.

"Sorry, Mama!"

"It's alright, darling."

They hurried out to meet Edgar. Cornelia sighed when she saw him. He really was very attractive. It helped ease the pain of what she was giving up. And had she met him first, once she was old enough to think of such things, she might have gladly become his mate.

"Edgar," she murmured. "My views have not changed. I accept your terms."

He looked startled. "Oh! V-Very well... um... well, children, how have you been while I was away?" he asked quickly.

Cornelia could scent the sudden spike in his pheromones. She was nervous but excited. Tonight... Tonight she would at last find relief from her years of torment. And she would be married to a worthy male, one who not only respected her love of science but shared it. And... that would have to be enough.

 

They all ate together that night. Cornelia and Edgar were unusually quiet, but the children made up for the silence. Edgar told them their bedtime story, one he had heard of the valorous Walter robots on the battlefields of the Great War. He followed it with a quieter tale and soon they were in stasis.

She and Edgar walked toward her chamber. They stopped, still dragonform, and looked at each other.

"Are you sure about this, my dear?" he murmured breathlessly.

"I am. I do care for you, Edgar. More than you know."

He laid his head against hers and closed his eyes. "It's enough. And now... Stelle, my love... I feel that I have the right to fully confess how deeply I have come to love you. I have waited for this day nurturing a selfish hope that your answer would not change, and I will gladly divide my time between my family and yours."

"Both are your family now, Edgar. I am now your mate."

"Well," he growled softly, looking into her eyes, "By dawn, you will be."

Her scales stood on end as they entered the cave. She hoped the children remained in stasis. She didn't want any of them to have to cope with the sight of what was about to take place. She didn't allow herself to think of their fathers at all.

But as Edgar curled himself around her and began his fiery caresses, worry faded and all there was, was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She hasn't given them up completely. Each has his moment. Hatchworth and Rabbit have had theirs already.


	26. Surprises of Married Life

Cornelia was calmer than she had been in years. As expected. She felt a little sore but so relaxed! Edgar, having been married before, knew a thing or two that she suspected the brutish male who once attacked her did not know.

What troubled her was the feeling that half of her faintly depraved romance with the Walter automatons had been driven by sexual frustration. She speculated now that they had triggered something that was already in the offing, long since due, given her age. How exasperating! But when she thought of them now, they seemed so different. Rabbit seemed like a friend, the imprinting now gone completely. Hatchworth was complicated... she loved him dearly but not in the way he loved her. The Spine she remembered as a friend, and as a potential lover. She still felt their story had been cut short. And Jon... confused her, as usual. He was somehow always there. She supposed it was because of Goldie's little flashes of news about him.

But even that didn't bother her much, not now. Edgar's smooth scales rested against hers and she felt she was where she belonged.

He shifted and looked into her eyes. "Stelle? Good morning."

"Good morning. How can we be awake already? We were up all night..."

She stopped short, embarrassed. It had seemed so natural to speak of it last night! But she'd had a few surprises since then.

She hadn't realized that mating, while fully in season, was not a singular act. Not long after she had been sure they were done, she had felt an overwhelming need steal over her and had been terribly afraid something had gone wrong! Edgar had assured her that everything was as it should be, before joining her once more.

They had to mate some six times before the drive stopped reawakening every half hour. Edgar assured her that the following night she would be ready to repeat it. She tingled at the very thought. But he had laughed kindly at her lack of knowledge, saying he felt like a dirty old man deflowering such an innocent virgin. She was a little nettled by his amusement, though not enough to keep her from mating with him again. But it really wasn't fair of him to laugh; with her mother dead, being estranged from her father, without so much as a female friend in her youth, she'd had no one to teach her.

Edgar was chuckling. "Don't be afraid to speak of it, dear Stelle. I'll cherish every moment. I confess I didn't think I'd make it, however. My dear, you were glorious."

She sighed and lay her head against his. "I hardly did a thing! You... you have so much more experience!"

"We all have to start somewhere," he growled, and she felt a chill go up her spine.

"Tell me," she murmured. "How long will I stay in season when I have a mate to service me?"

"Based on my wives... They seemed to go on about a week each when the need arose. Not constantly, mind you... I can stay long enough to mate until the urges settle. When that's over, if you've conceived, you're usually supposed to be content for a couple of years while the eggs develop. But of course I can't produce any, so you'll need me to return in a few months. I can't leave the other lair unguarded for too long, but I also can't leave my wife unmated, can I?"

"Not if I have any say in the matter," she sighed. "But you're telling me that I won't want to mate unless I'm in season?"

"No... you won't _need_ to mate. But I hope very much that you'll want to do so. I'll return early so we can test the theory, hm?"

She laughed, the fire-flecked, throaty chuckle of the dragon. "Please do. I have been this way for so long that I suspect I'll want to do it as often as you do."

"I don't know... my human wife sometimes complained that I wanted it far too much!"

"Your what?" she cried.

"Oh! Sorry... yes, I was married for a time, to a human. I, of course, had no children by that union either!"

There were layers upon layers to this man. Scientific, yet passionate. Much like Cornelia, though it had taken her decades to learn it. But if he had been married to a human... Well. She had to ask.

"Then... you know how as a human, too..."

"How? Oh, you mean..."

"How to mate... I mean, make love..."

"I certainly do." He angled his head and looked at her coyly. "I can show you later. If you like."

She was intrigued. "I look forward to that," she said a little shyly. Mating without even a layer of scales? She'd come close with The Spine but it sounded so much more filthy with another flesh creature. It also sounded amazing.

"I just hope I can live long enough to get you through this stage of your life, my dear," he was saying. "Most females accept what they can get until they reach an age when the mating urge settles on its own. But you're still so young."

"Don't talk like that, please!" She didn't understand this. Surely a dragon as old as he claimed to be wouldn't have looked so sleek and attractive... "I know it wasn't exactly a mad passion that brought us together but I don't relish the idea of losing you, Edgar."

"Was it _not_ a mad passion?" he asked silkily, nuzzling her neck. "For my part, it was. I can't remember when I felt so young and alive. And you... _you_ didn't sound a bit reluctant... or disappointed."

"Stop!" she gasped, shivering. "Or I'll never make it until evening!"

He chuckled. "My point exactly. Well... your children will be waking soon, I believe, and I think this isn't the best way for them to find us."

"No... I'd prefer to tell them in a setting other than my boudoir."

She sighed and followed as he rose and trotted out of the cave. In the next moment, she tripped over his tail. He had stopped short. She leaned around him and saw the reason why.

Edgar was standing snout to snout with Talon.

"Oh!" Edgar gasped. "Good... good morning!"

She saw Edgar start to dip his head and stop himself just in time. As her mate, it was understood that he would take on the role of alpha. It wouldn't be appropriate to bow now. But she hadn't explained to the children yet!

Talon clicked an eyebrow plate upward and looked at Edgar, then at Cornelia, then Cornelia's cave. A few gold coins fell from the Edgar's scales and hit the floor noisily. Talon stared at them as they spiraled to a stop and looked once more at his mother.

"Talon... it's... we need to tell you all something..." she stammered. _How_ he could stare!

Talon tipped his head.

"Talon?" she prompted.

What would he do? Did he understand what had gone on? She'd explained mating to them, and Talon had been very curious, but when the others had suggested that their mother should take Edgar as a mate, Talon had been very angry. How would he respond to the obvious implication that she and Edgar had spent the night together?

But Talon just turned to Edgar and, to her relief, gave a solemn dip of his head. He nuzzled Cornelia warmly and murmured, "My congratulations, mother," before he slipped past them and away through the caverns.

Edgar turned to stare after him. "Will it be so easy with the others?" he said faintly.

"Easier," she sighed.

 _Bless his lovely core,_ she thought as they continued through the caves. Talon had, in his smooth and simple way, just surrendered the role of alpha to Edgar. Unless she was mistaken, he had done so with relief.

"I hope he understands that I wish him to remain alpha in my absence."

"Tell him, then, Edgar. You are so much what we have needed here. Talon has been struggling in his choice to be male, having no worthy example to follow. He is still a youth, in need of guidance. I beg you to be a father to him, when you can."

"I had intended to do so, with your leave, even before you granted me the inestimable joy and honor of becoming your mate. But don't the other boys need guidance, too?"

"Luke does, to be sure. Rabbit... troubles me. I am still not convinced that he should be male."

"It's his choice, my dear."

"But why did he make it? Luke was the first to attack the dragon that came after me. Then Rabbit, who fought but was just not big enough. And then Talon, who fought savagely and saved me at last. When Talon said he was male afterward, Rabbit jumped in as though afraid to be left out."

"I see what you mean. I will see if I notice any suggestion that your concerns are valid."

"Thank you. I want him to be happy as he is, even if he has no inclination toward either, or if he turns out to identify more with females."

"It's been years, though. Haven't you had any hints?"

"Many. And still he clings to being male. The strongest hint has been... well... He sometimes seems almost too close to Luke."

"But my dear, have you considered that they may just feel like close brothers? Or that sometimes there are men on earth who are masculine but feel attractions to other men?"

"I suppose," she said reluctantly. "I never saw much future in that... the logical combination is female to male for procreation..."

"An easy viewpoint for one who has never felt attraction to anything but the opposite sex, even when it was of another species or machine. And I am attracted to females, yet procreation isn't an option for me. Life is full of uncertainties."

She sighed but said nothing as they entered the upper levels. She knew he couldn't produce offspring, and that she already had four lovely children. But now that she had completed the act of mating, at least, the first stage of it, there was a little tickle of regret that it would never come full circle.

 

The day became one of celebration once they told the other children. They had all wanted her to make Edgar their father. Even though, as he explained, he would have to divide his time, they were still delighted to hear that he had joined the family.

And that night, once the children were in stasis, Edgar led her to the human rooms.

"Just as promised. I don't know whether human lovemaking is enough to cope with the mating drive," he explained. "Neither of my dragon mates was interested in trying it. But... I'm open to finding out."

He began to kiss her neck, tugging at the simple blouse she had put on for the evening. His hands slid along her skin. She felt uneasy and almost stopped him. The last time she had been close to this, it had been The Spine touching her. And soon after, Jon had intimated that he would be glad to do the same. She still wasn't sure which she longed for more.  Jon and The Spine still vied for dominance in her fantasies...

Which should be far from her mind now! She was moments away from slipping in bed with her husband! But she realized that the Walter robots could in fact live long enough that someday, she might cross paths with them again, when she was available once more. She brushed aside the stab of guilt she felt; yes, it would mean that Edgar was dead. But he had raised questions she wanted answered.

She'd known it would be hard to put them behind her and become his mate. But she hadn't realized it would be impossible, that everything they did together would be woven together with the denied promises of a life she had left behind... and yet which had followed her in her hopes. Someday, a voice seemed to whisper, you may do these things with one of them...

And soon she lay in the morning in his arms, guiltily remembering how often she had thought of The Spine, of The Jon... Yes, at last, just the two of them, still in conflict even though each was far away. And she knew the answer... Human lovemaking was most certainly enough to answer the mating instinct.

"Stelle," murmured Edgar sleepily. "It's alright, my dear. I want you to know that."

"What is? I don't understand..."

"I realize that they're in your thoughts."

She swallowed hard. "Edgar... I'm sorry. I thought I could do this... But I can't be your mate without the thought of them present. If you wish to change your mind..."

"Not unless you wish it. I could have just gone away, but I was too tempted by the promise of making love to you."

She blushed. One surprise in all this was that a male of her own kind had found her attractive. And he was someone who she could respect as an intellectual equal. She was flattered, and touched. It was a warm feeling. One that she felt expanding into longing; it seemed her mating drive was not quite sated this time.

"No," she murmured, putting her arms around him. "I don't want to change my mind. I do care for you, Edgar. And I do believe we'll be very happy together."

He kissed her, and she shivered pleasantly at the physical response. Surely she at least could live up to her promise to love him.

Edgar, sensing her response, pulled her close once more before the children woke from stasis. And she, in turn, tried to tune out of her imagination the hum of motors, or the bloop of a koi in a blue matter vortex.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

A week later, Cornelia's responses had calmed, and Edgar prepared to return to his ancestral lair. He held Cornelia in his arms in human form for a long time, and she was content there, more so than she had anticipated.

"I love you, you know," he murmured. "I hope you are comfortable with me saying so."

"Of course, Edgar. You may say whatever you like."

"I'm glad, because I want to tell you often, to let you know that you are loved. Even I, as a whelp, was loved by my parents, despite the trouble between us later I can't imagine what it must have been to live in fear as a youngster."

He was too wonderful to be true. And, like The Spine, he deserved to be loved. But, as with The Spine, she found she had to learn it, rather than fall into it.

They transformed and she saw him off, along with the children.

"I wish he could stay," Goldie sighed, after he had flown away. "He's not Papa, but he's a very nice father."

"He's _my_ Papa!" cried Rabbit. "I decided!"

"How sweet, Rabbit!" Cornelia cried.

"I look like him, though!" Talon said happily. "And I'm alpha while he's gone, got it?"

Rabbit sighed and shrugged. "Who wants to be stupid old alpha anyway?"

"Too much work," Luke agreed.

They trotted away together. Cornelia nuzzled Talon.

"Well, I am very proud of you, my child."

"Thank you, mother."

"Me, too!" Goldie cried, fluttering to his back.

Cornelia sighed happily. He was so grown up now... and little Goldie was as sweet as ever. She couldn't have loved them more if they were her own hatchlings.

 

Edgar returned, as promised, every couple of weeks. He and Cornelia enjoyed both days and nights together, free of the forceful need of mating. She was very happy. It was only after they had become mates that she had been able to recognize the great weight she had come to bear for all those years. Only with it lifted could she truly understand. She felt as light as air just waking in the morning.

She passed through another mating schedule, for which he arrived exactly on time. Now that she knew what to expect, she found herself eagerly anticipating the feeling of longing and gratification. But to her surprise, they were not as pronounced this time. She only felt the drive to repeat the act a few times before growing weary and falling asleep. Edgar said maybe it was because she now had a mate, and had waited so much longer the last time. She knew nothing about it and said he was probably right.

But the third cycle came and went without any extra drive at all. She wouldn't have known it was time, in fact, if she hadn't kept a schedule.

What she did feel was ill and uneasy. She couldn't even change into human form for their evening meal together. Every time she thought of it, she felt an inexpressible feeling of panic and remained in her dragon form instead. Edgar was understanding and remained a dragon for the duration of his stay. They mated, but it was the same as always, and he looked troubled as he flew reluctantly away from her.

"Take good care of your mother, young ones," he had told the children before leaving. "She has been feeling unwell."

Goldie watched her closely after that, never straying far from her. She took to perching in Cornelia's cave at night when Edgar was away. During the day, each of the children seemed afraid to leave her alone.

Cornelia herself didn't know what to make of it all. She worried terribly. Why was she so weak? Why couldn't she transform? What if she was dying? What would become of the children? They couldn't go live with with Edgar. He had explained how traditional the remnants of his family still were, how his younger brother was promising but very much a male of dragon kind, proud and violent. While Edgar promised the boy was not cruel like other dragons, he surely would not accept a group of robotic dragons in the cave when they had scarcely reestablished ownership.

Such was her worry that she took to tidying things, setting everything into order as though sensing that she would soon not be there to do so. She rearranged her hoard again and again, trying to get it just right. Goldie watched worriedly, giving up at last on assuring her that it was alright, that it looked perfect.

Edgar wasn't due to return for a week, right before the anniversary of their first mating. Cornelia lay at last in her cave, on her hoard, feeling very ill and stiff and bloated. She tried to curl into her favorite sleeping position and couldn't seem to get just the way she wanted.

"I'll go see if Papa Edgar has returned yet," Goldie chirped nervously as dawn approached.

"He's not due for a week, dear," Cornelia muttered, twisting irritably.

There were thumping footsteps approaching in the cavern outside. Goldie fluttered out and squeaked, "Oh! Talon! Is he back yet?"

"No, silly, he isn't due for... Why, what's wrong?" Talon asked worriedly.

"Something's happening, Talon!" Goldie squeaked.

 _I can hear you,_ Cornelia thought grumpily.

"Happening? What's happening? She's not dying is she?" Talon hissed, alarmed.

"Ugh! Goldie, dear, stop frightening your brother!" Cornelia groaned.

She ached so! Her stomach was churning and her back hurt terribly. She twisted onto her other side and growled, "Just go up to the top levels and let me rest, please!"

"Yes, mother," they said gloomily, as one.

She heard Talon tromping away and assumed Goldie had gone with him. But she wasn't terribly surprised to glance back and see the little dragon in stasis on her perch. She rolled back over into the only position she found remotely comfortable and dozed lightly.

She woke to the sound of claws on gold coins. She twisted her head and felt warm breath against it.

"I hear you're on your very deathbed, my love," Edgar murmured lightly. "So our Talon has told me. That I have arrived in the very nick of time."

 _Typical Englishman,_ she thought grumpily. _Always playing off serious matters._

But she didn't much feel like discussing her approaching demise either.

"You're a week early, Edgar. I'm fine. I'm just having a hard time getting comfortable," she muttered. "I've had a bad night, that's all."

"Ah," he acknowledged. "I had understood it to be several bad nights. But I returned as quickly as I could. I've been speaking with my step-mother, you see, and... Well, I have rather shocking news to report."

He settled himself down against her aching back, supporting it.

She groaned softly. "I don't know that I am up to shocking news, Edgar. Possibly after I've gotten some sleep. But why did you return so quickly? Everything's fine..."

"Fine, is it?" he asked. "Only you don't sound fine. That was quite quite the heartfelt groan."

"My back was aching before you lay against it. It feels a bit better," she sighed.

In the next moment, she felt a strange sensation in her abdomen, as though something was pulling the flesh taut. "Oh!" she gasped.

"It doesn't sound like it feels better," he said, not sounding light anymore.

She gave up pretending to be alright. "I feel so strange!" she gasped. "I've been ill all night and I can't seem to get comfortable!" she groaned. "And now... oh!" She shuddered.

"Stelle!" he gasped, twisting his head around to hers.

"No... no, it's passing." She took a deep breath as her body slowly relaxed. "Ugh. You may want to go to the upper levels. I think I may be sick."

"Poor Stelle. I... Well, I came home early for a good reason. And not a moment too soon."

She felt the tightening sensation returning. "Oh..." she groaned with feeling.

"And I think it will not wait until you've had some sleep."

"Then spit it out!" she snarled, flame licking her teeth.

He braced himself against her until the spasm subsided. "Stelle, my darling girl... Once again, I feel I should apologize. I've put you in a most awkward position. I honestly had no inkling that it was even possible. My stepmother has told me that she has experienced symptoms very similar to yours."

"What is it?" she cried. "Is there a cure, then?"

"Oh, yes, my dear, I should say there is. And it appears you are in the very middle of it."

"I don't understand!" she roared as her body contracted once more.

He held her firmly, murmuring, "Just relax, my love. Let it happen and it won't hurt as much. So she told me."

"What won't?" she wailed. "My death?"

"Stelle! My love... how could one so well versed in science be so unaware of biology?"

"Tell me what's wrong, dammit!" she gasped, shuddering all over.

She was being so mean to him, yet he remained ridiculously cheerful! Had he lost his mind?

"My dear! It seems that I underestimated myself. Apparently late in life I have achieved the impossible... or what I thought was impossible. You and I... are expecting."

"Edgar... surely you aren't suggesting... You said you were sterile! Oh!"

The contraction had peaked and the pain was terrible. "I thought I was!" Edgar cried, steadying her as she roared in pain.

She tipped forward onto her feet, instinctively curling her body, vomiting flames as the tightening rippled down her body. He followed, bracing against her once more.

He murmured, "She also told me what to do. That's why I'm here, Stelle. You have to relax and let the eggs come out."

"I would have known I was pregnant!" she roared.

"The evidence suggests otherwise..."

"Damn you, what do you know about it?"

She felt horrible in the next moment, as the contraction passed.

"It's alright. She also told me that you'd say things you don't mean."

She sank forward onto her stomach, gasping. When she had caught her breath, she asked, "Then this illness hasn't been an illness... We're... having children? I'm going to lay eggs... How, Edgar? Now, suddenly, after all these centuries..."

"Apparently I'm a late bloomer," he chuckled weakly, resting his head against hers. "She sends her congratulations, by the way. I've assured her that our children will inherit a very lovely cave here and won't threaten her son's birthright, of course."

"How considerate of you," she whispered. "Only first I have to get these eggs laid and... oh!" she gasped. "Is it supposed to be this hard?" she groaned as another contraction broke over her.

"I... I don't... know," he faltered, bracing her once more.

She roared and shrieked, flames pouring from her mouth. She had thought that eggs just came out when it was time, but this one appeared to be trying to rip her in half instead! As the pain subsided, she looked up and, to her horror, saw all four of her children looking at her from the cave entrance. They looked very frightened. Talon had oily tears trickling from his eyes and she could see him trembling.

"Is Mama dying?" gasped Rabbit.

"Oh! Edgar, please... go comfort them, dear," she gasped weakly.

He looked at her in surprise. She realized why; she had never used pet names with him.

"Only for a few minutes, my love," he murmured. "You mustn't endure this alone."

He trotted to them and spoke quiet words. Cornelia rested while she could, hoping he could reassure them. They had been so afraid, especially Talon. He was the oldest and largest, but she also knew that while the others relied on him, he had only ever relied on his mother.

She heard them responding softly, excitedly, to what Edgar was telling them.

"She's not dying?" That was Talon. She heard a sob of relief in his voice.

"She's havin' ba-ba-babies?" cried Rabbit excitedly.

"I thought you couldn't make babies, Papa Edgar!" said precocious Goldie.

"What? But I want to stay with her! Oh... yeah... Okay, we'll go wait." Of course, Luke would be distressed at being separated from her. But from what she could hear, he had been reminded of the ordeal ahead and agreed that it was something he'd rather not witness.

They shuffled away, except for Goldie, who fluttered to her mother and whispered, "You can do it, Mama!" before flying out after the others.

Edgar returned and settled beside her. She caught a fond, almost soppy look from him during the quiet between contractions. He nuzzled her softly.

"Well... you've gone and done it," she said wearily. "In your old age, yet."

"My dear... I know you must be very angry..."

"I should reassure you that I'm not since you could hardly have known, but in truth... I'll tell you that once this is over. I don't trust my judgment at the moment."

She groaned and roared as another contraction assaulted her. As it passed, Edgar sighed.

"What is it?" she asked wearily.

"It's just... Thank you, Stelle. I'm so happy I can scarcely contain it."

"You... you wanted children?"

"All my life. I endured, as did my wives... well, two of them. But their pain was mine, Stelle. I wanted children too."

"Oh. Well... congratulations," she said dryly.

He chortled as the next contraction hit.

"Likewise, my love," he whispered as he braced against her.

 

It took a few hours, to her dismay, for the first egg to emerge. There was much roaring, on both their parts, and a great deal of swearing, only on hers. But at last she managed to push an egg into the hoard and lay gasping, not wanting to move ever again.

Edgar hastily rounded up the egg before it rolled off the pile of coins and inspected it with some confusion.

"I had thought they were smaller, usually," he observed. "And my step-mother told me they were usually quick to lay and not very big... no larger than a basketball, though she naturally didn't use that analogy."

Cornelia just wanted to go to sleep. She didn't care how big the egg was or whether another would soon follow. She was exhausted.

But she couldn't rest. She wasn't done. Some instinct was gnawing at her and she rose on trembling legs and crept to the egg, sniffing it. Feeling rather than knowing it was the right thing to do, she gently breathed fire over it and scooped the hoard around it, bracing it up. Then she curled herself around it, enjoying the warmth against her scales.

"Oh..." he said, sounding puzzled.

"What is it?" she murmured sleepily.

"She said that once all the eggs were laid, the natural instinct is to settle them into a nest and curl around them."

"That seems accurate..."

"But you've already done it..."

"Did she mean _each_ egg, maybe?" she muttered.

"No, she said she's seen other mothers do it as well. They lay all the eggs, quickly once the first arrives, and then make their nest around all of them and go to sleep."

"Sounds perfect!" she sighed.

"I'm no expert of course... but I think this is all there is. This is our clutch."

This was a bit of an eye-opener. "One egg? I get pregnant, go through all that agony, and lay one egg?" she gasped.

"One very large egg, from one rather petite mother. Do you feel the slightest urge to push out any more?"

"None at all. I just want to sleep."

He sighed and nuzzled her lovingly. "Of course, my dear. Then go ahead. You've done very well, and I'm only sorry I couldn't reassure you sooner."

"You didn't know..." she yawned.

"I know." He nuzzled her again. "Brave girl. I love you so very much."

"Mm-hmm..." It was so nice to be comfortable at last... The egg jiggled slightly against her side.

"I'll go give the children the news."

"Mmm..." she mumbled. His voice sounded very far away...

 

When she heard his voice again, it was close to her and whispering. She could feel him curled around her and the egg. She kept her eyes closed, still weary, and listened.

"Don't wake her, Goldie dear!" he was saying.

"It's so pretty!" Goldie whispered. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Edgar laughed softly. "It's anyone's guess, little one. Please go back up to the others. We're both very tired."

"Alright," she sighed. "Goodnight, baby egg!"

Cornelia felt Edgar lay his head down beside her. It felt lovely, though she now began to feel aches and twinges from her struggles. Well, she realized. He really was one of the group now. For every man she loved, she had one child.

Every man she _loved!_ She loved him. She had known she respected him, but in the past year, she had indeed come to love him. There was much about him to love! And while it still wasn't the burning first passion she still remembered for the robots, it was warm and safe.

Cornelia fell asleep once more between the warmth of her egg and her husband.


	27. Aurora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawning truths and dawning lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like my other long running solo fic, I address the fact that they aren't technically family... I draw the line at pairing up characters played by real life siblings, but I can toy with the rest.

"It's my turn to keep the egg warm!"

"We share turns, Luke!"

Cornelia chuckled softly, careful not to disturb the egg. It had been nearly two years since its traumatic arrival, but the novelty still hadn't worn off with the children and she still had plenty of volunteers to keep it warm. It was more and more important that it be done consistently, as it was nearing hatching. The automatons had learned to adjust their boilers to just the right temperature to do so safely, and each would pass the time in different ways... singing, telling stories, etc. But the favorite pastime was feeling the egg twitch.

And this once again had led to an argument. She had been expecting them but now they were stopped just outside the cave entrance, bickering in their usual way.

"But you hog all the space around the egg!" Luke accused.

"I li-li-like it when she wiggles!" Rabbit giggled.

"How d'you know it's a she? Maybe it's a little boy!"

"I can feel it!"

"Are you suggesting you know what a girl feels like?" Luke scoffed. "You couldn't possibly."

"Yeah, I do, because... because neither do you, dummy!"

"What does that even mean?"

"I just have a feeling it's a girl is all."

"And you know that's impossible. There's no external sexual characteristics to an _egg_ , stupid. So you couldn't possibly know that it's a girl," Luke finished smugly.

"Oh, _you're_ a girl!" Rabbit growled petulantly.

"No," Luke retorted, looking his brother in the eye, " _you're_ a girl!"

They both fell silent. Cornelia had run out of the cave and was staring at them.

"No... m'not..." Rabbit muttered in a shaky voice.

Luke was staring him down. "Yes, you are!" he hissed.

"Rabbit?" Cornelia said worriedly.

She'd been prepared to tell them to stop roaring at one another but Luke's last remarks had shocked everyone into silence. Indeed, Rabbit was sitting with his head turned away from them both, shoulders hunched.

"Rabbit, dear. It's alright if..." she began.

"Not a girl!" Rabbit bellowed, running up the passageway.

Cornelia looked after him, sighing. Luke looked mournfully at his mother.

"Yeah, she is," he whispered.

"Oh, Luke, why did you have to say... what was that?" she gasped.

"Nothing..."

"No... Luke, sweetheart... Here, we have to get back and keep the baby warm, and you must tell me what you know, darling."

They hurried back in and Luke climbed onto the nest.

"You're closest to Rabbit," Cornelia said gently. "You've noticed it, too, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Mother..." he breathed as he curled around the egg. "Why won't she admit it?"

"I don't know, darling."

Still, it was a great relief to have someone else say it. Even Edgar hadn't been able to decide whether he agreed with Cornelia, but here was Luke, Rabbit's closest companion, telling her he knew that Rabbit was female.

"I don't want her to be unhappy. But... _I'm_ unhappy!"

"Luke, love! Why?"

He looked away. "You'll be mad..."

"Sweetheart, no! I won't. Tell me."

Luke lay his head down. She sighed and lay beside him.

"Can I guess, my little one?" she murmured. With his upgrades over the years, Luke was actually larger than she was now. But that had never stopped her treating any of them, even Talon, as the children they were. Although perhaps not so young as she had thought...

She hesitated, and then voiced the thought which had been on her mind now for years. "I have noticed that you and Rabbit love each other dearly. Have you perhaps begun to wonder whether you should feel a love so great for a sibling?"

Luke curled a little tighter.

"Do you love Rabbit?"

"Mm-hm..."

"Do you love him... her... as a sibling? Or..." She hesitated. She didn't want to sway him.

"Don't know..."

"It's just that if you found that your feelings were not consistent with that of a brother... I just want you to know that it's alright. It's not as thought you hatched from the same clutch..."

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Alright, darling. You are both still so young. Nothing has to be decided yet."

She turned and padded out. Fortunately, they had found that Luke wasn't afraid to be left alone with the egg. It did indeed wiggle and was so clearly alive that Luke didn't feel alone with it there.

"Mama?" he called plaintively before she had gotten far. She returned quickly.

"What is it?"

"I love her, Mama!" he sobbed. "It's very wrong but I love her so very much!"

"Oh, darling, shush!" she cried, curling around him comfortingly. "It isn't wrong, love!"

"But... but she's my sister! You're not suppose to be in love with your sister!"

"Well, you aren't in love with your sister..."

"Then I'm in love with my brother! That's not good either!"

"Luke, precious! Didn't you understand me? You aren't really related! You have grown up together, and you were crafted by me. But you never came of my body as our egg has. You may love her if you want to!"

"Oh..." he snuffled, looking at her in surprise. "I hadn't really thought of it that way... Rabbit says she loves me all the time. She never says what kind of love and I don't think she even cares. I don't think it's the same as mine though. We can't mate anyway so it doesn't matter."

Cornelia was embarrassed and suddenly uncomfortable. Had they tried to mate?

"But that isn't even the whole problem..." he sighed.

"I'm very confused, dear... Why is it a problem to love Rabbit?"

"Because she's so _mean!"_ he wailed.

"You dear thing," she sighed. How had she ever thought he was aloof? "Maybe she just does that to try and seem like a boy. I just wish I knew why..."

She stayed with him until he was calm and left him to his shift. She scoured the caverns for half an hour before she found Rabbit. She... or perhaps it was best to think of him as he, until he said otherwise... was at a pool outside, peering into the water. She watched as Rabbit turned his head side to side, staring at the reflection.

She crept up quietly, careful to make just enough noise to warm Rabbit she was there.

"I'm sorry, Mama."

"Why, love?"

"I... I've been bad."

"Oh, Rabbit! You're full of mischief but you are most certainly not bad."

"Stop it! I am so! St-st-stop telling me I'm wrong!"

She gasped, and Rabbit sank to the ground and sobbed.

"I'm a m-m-m-monster!" he howled. "I... I... I don't know what to do!"

Her heart ached. Whatever was driving Rabbit in this course was so deeply embedded that he couldn't find it himself! And it was tearing him... no, her... apart. She couldn't think of Rabbit as a male. With Luke's confirmation, she just couldn't.

"Rabbit, love," she whispered, sinking down beside her. "I want to speak with you and I want you to be very honest with Mama. I promise I will not be angry or disappointed. You may tell me anything you like. It's just the two of us."

"Al-al-alright..."

"Rabbit, do you really feel like a male?"

"Ta-Ta-Talon..."

"No, not Talon. Rabbit. Do you, Rabbit, feel like a male? You've seen them, at home and away. You've had one as an adoptive father and had one throw you across the desert! There are good and bad ones. Do you feel like one?"

"So-so-sometimes. Kinda. What are they supposed ta fe-fe-feel like?"

"I couldn't say," she murmured. "But possibly we can solve this riddle with another. Do you ever feel like a female? You certainly have seen examples of that."

Rabbit mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"Yeah... sometimes."

"You didn't ask me what females are supposed to feel like."

"I didn't know once. And then... I started feeling like one. I mean, I figured out that I did. But I'm already a male!"

"You don't have to be! You're an automaton, my darling. I told you that you had a choice. I did not say you could only make it once!"

Rabbit looked up with wide eyes. "So... I can be a girl?"

"Silly darling!" What was it about Rabbit, father or daughter, that just made her heart melt? "More than that, I believe that you are. It's truly up to you. I allowed you all to remain neutral when you were very young. You could be that way, as well."

"Oh, Mama! That's such a relief! I don't feel neutral... I feel like a girl! But... oh, no... no, I can't."

"Why ever not?"

"Luke! We sleep curled up all the time!"

"Well, why shouldn't you sleep curled up with your brother?" she asked carefully, watching for the response.

Rabbit stared at her for a long moment, put both paws over her head, and wailed.

"You see? You see? That's just the problem! That's even worse, Mama!"

"What is it now, sweetheart?" Cornelia asked, suspecting the answer. It all seemed so obvious now...

"I... don't want him to be my brother!"

Well.

"He isn't," she replied without hesitation.

Rabbit looked up once more, her snout streaked with oil. "What?"

"You're robots! You aren't really family, you know!"

Rabbit was shaking. "Mama..." she croaked. "Oh... but _he_ thinks we are!"

"I'll tell you a little secret, if you don't tell Luke I told you. He most certainly does not think you are, because I have told him myself the same things I am telling you."

"Why?" she breathed.

"Rabbit..." Cornelia began. "Can you not guess the reason?"

Rabbit stood hastily.

"Mama... I knew... I always knew... Oh! I have to find him! I... I..."

"Rabbit! He's with the egg, darling!"

"Can I go to him, Mama? Is it... is it alright now?"

And without waiting for a response, Rabbit scurried into the cave and away.

"It was always alright, darling," she sighed.

Though now that it had come to it, Cornelia felt reluctant. Not because Rabbit had at last accepted that she was female. Not because two of her children were in love with each other. She had always known they weren't really connected by anything except her handiwork and and by growing up together, and they had been so close for so long that it was almost a relief to recognize it at last for what it was.

But the hard part was that they were growing up. They were at the stage of life that the Walter automatons had reached while she was there. And like their fathers, they were discovering romantic attraction. She could no more explain it now than she could then. But what could she do? They weren't Rabbit and Hatchworth. They were their own creatures, a girl and a boy who had always been close, and now felt that they were in love.

She gave Rabbit several minutes and followed. She didn't know how they would choose to respond to their shared attraction; their options were limited. But she did need to make sure the egg was kept warm.

But when she arrived, Rabbit was curled around the egg with Luke, who appeared to be in stasis. Rabbit looked back at her mother shyly.

"Hello, Mama," she growled softly.

"Was he already in stasis?"

"Mm-hm."

"Then... what will you do?" Cornelia asked.

"Nothing."

"But when he wakes," she whispered.

"Nothing. It's just... okay now."

"Will you tell him, though?"

"Yes. I'll tell him I'm a girl. And... I may not say the rest yet," she said shyly.

"Alright," Cornelia said, feeling a bit relieved.

"I'm going into stasis too."

"Oh... alright..." She watched Rabbit rest her head contentedly against Luke and walked quietly out.

Well, really, what difference did it make? Luke was right. They couldn't mate. They just loved each other. Now Rabbit would be known as a female and maybe sometime she and Luke would get around to telling each other how they felt. But nothing else had changed... Not much at all, really.

She was just as glad. They were still youths, after all.

 

The days came when she was afraid to be far from the egg for fear of missing it hatching. She took to remaining in the room when others came to help warm it.

Edgar returned from the other cave, and told her he was there to stay until their child came into the world. "Things are secure enough now that I can take more time. I wouldn't miss this for anything."

But just three days later, his dream came true. Talon was egg-sitting when there was a thump against his plates. Cornelia heard it and turned.

"Mama! I think it's hatching!" Talon cried.

She roared for Edgar and hurried to see. Sure enough, she egg was jerking from side to side, its slightly supple sides beginning to stretch. She saw the indentation of little claws...

"Stelle! Is it time?" cried Edgar, hurrying in with the other children.

"Looks that way!"

A crack formed in the egg and a little nose appeared. It squawked a high, plaintive cry as it struggled and Cornelia couldn't bear it. She rushed to help, carefully hooking a claw into the shell and teasing it open more as Goldie flew overheard, squeaking excitedly.

"Come on, little baby!" she cried happily, flying to her perch.

Cornelia breathed warm air over the egg. The whelp caught her scent and began to shriek, a piercing, demanding sound that she felt deep within and she couldn't deny the cry, but carefully pried the rest of the egg open. The whelp lay on half the torn shell, trembling and blinking in the dim light. Cornelia leaned down and breathed warm air over it again and it inched toward her, making a fitful sound.

Now came a tricky part. Her instincts were telling her it was hungry. Unlike Earth reptiles, dragon whelps were suckled in their first years. And she had exactly no one to teach her how to nurse a baby. She'd read what she could find on the subject but mostly would have to hope that in this, as in other stages of the adventure, instinct would drive them both the right way.

Talon, staring wonderingly at the tiny, metallic pink whelp, shifted off the hoard to make room for his mother. She curled onto her side and Edgar moved forward, gently lifting the whelp with his front leg. It shrieked and tried to bite him. He chuckled and nuzzled it affectionately, then gently placed it beside her.

"She's hungry," he murmured. "I hope you know what to do about that..."

"I remember... Wait. It's a girl? I didn't even think to check..."

"A lovely little girl!" Edgar said happily as the whelp crept toward Cornelia's body, following a scent only it could smell. It reached a teat at last and Cornelia muffled a yelp as her baby instinctively clamped on and began to feed.

"Oh!" she gasped. "I guess she knew what to do... ye gods, she's a savage little thing..."

But to her surprise, a warmth began to steal over her, spreading from the very top of her head. It felt as though she'd sunk into a very warm bath. She closed her eyes and smiled. Now she understood; there had been a book that mentioned a release of pleasant hormones in connection with nursing.

Edgar settled in near her and watched with a look of dopey fondness. To her surprise, Talon sat beside him with a similar look. Rabbit and Luke, until then keeping their distance, now crept in as one and lay down together, watching contentedly. Goldie flew down to perch on Edgar's head.

"Mother..." Rabbit breathed. "She's so beautiful!"

"You were never little, any of you," Cornelia murmured, relaxed. "But you were once this helpless. How much you've grown!"

"Inside, maybe," Talon chuckled.

Edgar looked at her happily. "She's quite large. Well... of course she is! But so perfect... She's copper, I believe, but I detect a note of titanium at the base of her scales."

Cornelia craned her neck. He was right. The edges of her scales were fresh pink copper, passing through gold into cool titanium at the base. "How lovely!" she breathed.

"What shall we call her, my dear?"

"I had some ideas... But I don't know, now that I've seen her. What name is beautiful enough?"

"She looks like the dawn light," sighed Goldie. "Like the beautiful morning sky."

"Then that will be her name, with your leave, my love," Edgar said. "Aurora."

"Oh, how lovely! Yes, that would be perfect," she sighed sleepily.

"I think your mother is growing weary, children. She hasn't slept much in anticipation of the hatching. We should go..."

"Aww..." they moaned as one.

"It's alright," Cornelia murmured, closing her eyes. "I can sleep whether you're here or not."

She dozed to the hum of their motors as they watched the tiny dragon feed.

 

Aurora was an easy little dragon to tend, for the first few months. Almost all she did was eat, and this she did almost constantly. And Cornelia was content, to her relief, at least for the first month. She seemed to have fallen thoroughly in love with the tiny whelp, and was most content when curled around it as it fed.

But restlessness soon set in and she began to take short breaks to go out and fly; a wise action, since she found on doing so that it tired her rapidly. She hadn't been out much since the egg came. She and Goldie began to take regular flights once more to regain Cornelia's health.

Edgar was very pleased as well at this; he hadn't wished to say so, but admitted that he had noticed that she was steadily growing thin and listless.

And again, she had no lack of help, though Talon avoided being alone with Aurora, fearing his massive size would make it hard for him to tend her properly. Rabbit and Luke usually watched her, and Cornelia had returned several times to find Rabbit curled around the sleeping whelp with Luke curled around them both. She didn't know whether they had confessed their feelings yet, but as before, they had no need. They were content, and so was she.

 

When Aurora was a few years old, life had settled into a pattern. She was precocious and had begun to learn specific cries. Rabbit, embracing her choice to live as a female, tended the whelp like a second mother, and when she did, Luke looked upon them both with much the same look as Edgar.

But Talon was growing increasingly distant. She couldn't say when it began. He had been so interested in the whelp at first, but now so much of her time was caught up in tending her baby, even with Rabbit's help, that she scarcely noticed. But one day she looked up and saw him passing without so much as a greeting. As he tromped away through the caves, she realized he had been that way for longer than she knew.

She mentioned it to Edgar when he arrived the next day.

"Ah, yes... I had noticed some trouble with our Talon. I've been meaning to speak with him. There are things I believe he will tell me that he may not wish to discuss with his mother."

"Such as what?" she asked indignantly. The idea that Talon would not be frank with his own mother!

"Now, my dear, you yourself have encouraged him in his choice to be a male. He embraced his role as alpha, while he had it. I expect he's wondering just where his place is, now that he has a father to take on that role."

"I suppose..."

"And he may only be willing to discuss such issues with me, because he does not grudge you your happiness in finding a mate. But based upon his diligence in proper decorum, I believe he will respect my authority and I believe open up to me. I will try, at least, to get him to do so."

"His diligence stops somewhere short of greeting his mother," she sighed. "But this only punctuates what you say. He clearly is uneasy speaking to his mother. I will leave it to you."

And he did, the next day, ask Talon to take a walk with him. They returned after several hours. Cornelia, out in the courtyard with the baby, watched anxiously as Talon slipped past with only a brief nod and a touch of noses for Aurora, who waddled eagerly to him. She shrieked unhappily as he disappeared into the caverns and waddled to her mother to nurse.

Edgar arrived, looking thoughtful. He sniffed the baby briefly as she fed and nuzzled her gently; she grunted at him without letting go.

"Sweet little thing," he sighed. "Well, my dear, there's a bit of a shock in store for you. Just a bit. Talon is indeed feeling disconnected, but not because he's no longer alpha. He understands that well enough. But he is aware that he is nearing adulthood according to the standards of our kind, and this is punctuated by the obvious change in his siblings."

"What change?" she asked. "Do you mean Luke and Rabbit?"

"I do indeed. It seems that he happened to overhear them not long ago, confessing their love for one another."

"Finally!" she exclaimed. "Well, I guess I didn't expect a formal announcement... But it is disconcerting to be kept out of a secret."

"A very intimate secret, one which I would only expect them to keep for themselves. Apparently they've discussed becoming mates as well."

"They're too young!" she cried uneasily. "And, well... they can't, can they? Not really..."

"Just so. I believe you'll need to speak to them, and advise if they are receptive to it. Luke may be male but he clearly responds more to you."

"Alright. I'm very curious now anyway. But is this all you've learned about Talon, that his siblings are changing?"

"Mm... no. That's the shocking bit. What with his approaching coming of age, and his siblings, if that is really the most appropriate term, all things considered..."

"Edgar, please get on with it."

"Patience, my dear. Well, with the others in love but lacking the means to become physical mates, young Talon has become uncomfortably aware of issues of this very nature. He has noticed that you have granted him the freedom to choose his sex, but have not seen fit to respect his choice. He feels that you don't take it seriously. He thinks Rabbit's choice to be female and your encouragement in this suggests that you think they are only playing at being male or female."

"What? But... they are automatons! They can change if they see fit. I suppose I would accept whatever they decide, even if they want to change."

"And that is the mistake, I believe. You see, each of them is nearing adulthood and is mature enough that the sex they have chosen is the one they will keep. It is an unusual dynamic but I do believe each child has made his or her choice. And Talon believes that you should demonstrate your support of these choices in a more tangible way. He believes that if he is male, and is certain that he is so, he should be made anatomically male as well."

"But it would be of no use! He can't produce offspring, and I very much hate to say so but he will never have a mate!"

"No, indeed. Not unless he finds one among the biological dragons. Or unless we make one."

"Edgar, I'm surprised! You realize you're sounding like Dr. Frankenstein?"

"Ah, no. Dr. Frankenstein was opposed to creating the bride. But then, so am I."

"Then what..."

"Just this... that we should honor his request."

"Give him genitalia?" she cried.

"Well, yes, dear! Why ever not? You have given him any number of adornments that he does not require. You have confessed to making him resemble his father. To what end, except to give him an identity, a connection? He identifies as a male. Give him masculinity."

"But then they'll all be wanting the same kind of upgrade..." she said weakly.

"And if they receive it?"

She was silent. She didn't want to think about it.

He settled beside her, resting his head gently against hers. "May I speculate? I suspect that you are feeling a certain reluctance to see them become adults. They won't be your babies anymore. But they aren't leaving you..."

"I know," she sighed. "But more than that... if Rabbit and Luke have the appropriate parts, well..."

"They'll mate. I know. You've given them life, encouraged them to pursue their feelings. Does it seem kind to deny them the ability? They lack the physical instincts and drives, but they love each other. If they continue to do so, why then the most natural thing for them is to advance to a deeper intimacy. I believe they will find a way to become intimate, willy-nilly. If we allow them all to be what they really are, they won't have to struggle to find their way. They will be able to mate as their emotions demand. And Talon, given what he asks, will feel he is complete. I see no harm in that."

She sighed. "Then there is only one argument remaining. I have never designed such parts! If, as you say, they mean so much, it would hardly be sufficient to make them parts that don't function like the real thing, would it? They couldn't mate using a mere sculpture of a... Oh, Edgar! This is all terribly uncomfortable!"

Aurora grunted irritably and Cornelia stilled once more.

Edgar chuckled. "We are scientists, my dear. Between us, I believe we can accomplish this. Let Rabbit tend Aurora for a little while each day between feedings, and you and I will work on the problem. I think we should begin tonight."

"Begin how?"

"Well," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. "It's been quite a long time... and given that the parts should not only function but be able to provide sensation, I think we should remind ourselves just exactly how they should feel while in use..."

"Oh, Edgar..." she sighed, bemused. "I think it sounds wonderful, and I intend to take you up on it, but do me the favor of never making the connection between our intimacy and the intimacy of my children or I will find it very difficult to enjoy myself."

"Ah. Yes. Just so. Then let Rabbit watch the baby tonight so that we can mate. Tomorrow we'll start designing."

"Better."

 

It had indeed been a long time... She hadn't mated with him since Aurora had hatched. But now that her little one was a toddler and could be away from her mother for longer periods, Cornelia retired to her cave with eager anticipation. And she was far more relaxed and ready to discuss the work ahead after feeling the tickle of flames on her scales, the comforting pressure on her back, and the enormous relief of mating.

But approaching Rabbit and Luke about the project was more awkward. She debated whether to speak to them together or separate. But finding them separate was not so easy. Everywhere she saw them, they were together, sometimes nuzzling each other affectionately, sometimes playing as they always had. But there was a definite change. Luke taunted her less, and Rabbit was calmer; the air was no longer of playmates but of lovers, and it warmed her heart.

She decided, on that basis, to speak to them together.

"Darlings, I couldn't help noticing a change between you," she said as they curled before her.

"Is that why you wanted to speak to us, Mama?" Rabbit asked shyly. "You knew how we felt..."

"I know, sweet. I just didn't realize you had made declarations."

Luke murmured, "You're right. I told her I love her. And she loves me. We... we would like to become mates."

"If that's okay..."

"It is... well... you're still a bit young..."

"We've always loved each other best, Mama. And you said we're not really..."

"Siblings. I know..." She sighed. Time to come to the point. "My dears, that's why I must speak with you. We are considering a project that will affect three of you, at least." There was no indication that Goldie cared one way or the other.

"What is it?"

"It's... we would change your structure so that..." How to put it? They had never mentioned it. Perhaps they didn't care! "We would upgrade your bodies for adulthood. These changes would acknowledge your choices to be male and female, and enable you to become mates in the physical sense. That is how it is done among our people. You become joined through the act of mating. But in order to do so, you must be partially rebuilt so that... so that you are physically male and female, respectively."

"You're offering to give us appropriate sex organs?" Luke asked bluntly.

Rabbit giggled nervously.

Cornelia sighed. She owed them the plain truth but how she dreaded their answers! "That is what I am suggesting, dear. As subtly as possible! But I see that you prefer the direct approach. Very well. Edgar and I are offering you parts that will identify you by your chosen gender and will enable mating. Do you two want to become mates enough to endure these changes?"

They stared at her.

"Well?"

They looked at each other. Rabbit dipped her head shyly. "I don't know... Luke... Wh-what do you think?"

"Yes," Luke said, looking at her steadily. "I do want that."

"Oh!" gasped Rabbit.

"And you?"

"Yes... oh, yes, very much, Mama!" Rabbit confessed.

They touched noses. "Precious ones," she sighed. "Then we'll do our best, so that you may have what you wish."

"Thank you, mother," Luke said fervently.

"Yes," Rabbit whispered demurely. "Thank you."

Cornelia left them that way. Edgar had been right.

Eager and energetic Rabbit, rendered shy and speechless at the thought of being one with her beloved. Strong and steady Luke, taking the reigns when Rabbit needed him... only then. She needed his stability and reassurance, and he needed her closeness and energy. They had known it almost from the start of their lives. They were like their parents, and yet so very unlike.

And each with their different personalities shared one common interest. There would be no preventing those two from becoming lovers, whatever it required. So there was no reason not to give them every assistance.

But she was determined to do it right.


	28. Grown Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Puberty is generally pretty danged awkward. But this takes the prize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just thought I should mention that this is the middle. The whole thing will come full circle in time.

"A curious way for one to come of age," Edgar said pleasantly, as he tightened the bolts on Luke's assembly. "But it's certainly less traumatic than passing through it the usual way. Would that I had been allowed to choose when to mature, and been able to do so in a single day."

"I suppose," she sighed.

She was crafting Talon's assembly. His simply had to match his size, and she found that awkward enough. Rabbit's had to fit Luke's and she simply couldn't bring herself to test the parts together. So Edgar, with his usual maturity and humor, had agreed to do the necessary tests on the parts, to make sure that Rabbit and Luke would be able to mate and subsequently disconnect the parts when needed. He had pointed that risk out, and she had groaned at the very idea but could scarcely deny the need to make sure that the two didn't become stuck together!

She was very grateful now for his maturity, and his placid nature. It made this easier, especially when his thoroughness meant avoiding even more troubling situations down the road. She wanted this to become a moment of importance rather than humilation. She saw more and more how much it meant to her children to be complete. Her discomfort with the nature of the task was secondary to their well-being.

Unfortunately, Edgar's maturity provided another worry. Age had begun to show at last. He was moving just a bit slower, growing just a bit more forgetful, and could no longer hide the signs of age from either form, though he was still handsome in each. He sometimes complained of stomach irritation but she had to wonder whether in fact it was something more serious. At these times, she longed for some of the medical wonders, the methods, machines, and medicines, he had described from the recent years he had spent on Earth. How much they could prolong life was unknown, but to at least be able to diagnose health concerns! Dragons were not known for their medical advances.

Now that these signs were becoming clear, she realized just how afraid she was of losing him. She had loved before, how deeply and passionately! But she had never been able to have the completeness that she had with him. Gone were the days when she could be peacefully alone for much of the day, deep in study. She had come to rely on company, first because of the Walter automatons, then her children. And now she had grown accustomed to a like minded friend and lover. And while he did leave to visit the other lair, it was easy, knowing he would return.

Lately, she found it harder. Because lately she had come to fear that he would not return at all.

The parts were ready inside of a month of steady work and adjustments, and installed soon after. Talon was first, and the work was done without difficulty due to their care and preparations.

"Talon?" she said gently after powering him back on.

He opened his eyes. "Is it complete?" he asked softly.

"Yes, love. I... I hope it's what you wanted."

She didn't know what else to say. She had wondered at times whether his father had ever made the same request of Col. Walter, and was very glad she hadn't been there if he had.

"Edgar?" Talon said, looking around.

"Talon? I'm here."

"Is it... Does it look right?"

"Well, a typical male's genitals are largely concealed until needed, as I explained during the design phase," Edgar said blithely. "We designed yours to present similarly. But yes, from the back and sides you can see the indications of male genitals."

Talon rose and dipped his head. Cornelia fancied that he looked rather embarrassed and could understand why. "Thank you both."

"Aren't you wondering whether they function?" Edgar asked.

"Oh... I... um..." Talon glanced uncomfortably at Cornelia.

"I think I'll go check on Aurora," she said hastily, hurrying out.

When she returned, half an hour later, Talon had gone and Edgar was preparing for the next installation.

"Very tactful, my dear," he chuckled. "He was able to open and close the assembly without difficulty."

"Oh. How nice."

Edgar laughed heartily at this and embraced her. "It was important to him. He just didn't want to raise the question around his mother."

She shook her head. "He'll never even need it," she muttered.

"Be happy, my dear! He is wholly content now."

But as wretched as that had been to Cornelia, the changes to Luke and Rabbit were done with far greater discomfort.

"All done with Talon?" Luke cried, trotting in soon after the larger dragon had gone.

Edgar chuckled. "Power down. We're quite ready to begin."

He did so and they did the work carefully, taking all necessary measurements and installing the parts based upon Edgar's data. He also opened Luke's cranial plating and made adjustments to accommodate the new machinery, as he had with Talon.

"How does it work?" Luke asked once they had powered him back on.

"Well, it opens and..." began Edgar.

"Like this?"

Luke promptly opened the entire assembly and closed it again. Cornelia groaned softly and looked away.

"Sorry, mother," Luke chuckled.

"No... it isn't as if I haven't seen it before," she lied. It was worse than the time she had walked in when Peter II was getting out of the bath! Still, better Peter II than the shamelessly forward Peter III...

"There's a file directing you in its use, Luke," Edgar said quickly. "I think we'd better get Rabbit now..."

"Oh, yes! I should show her!" Luke cried, trotting out.

"Luke, no!" cried Cornelia, but he could be very swift when he chose and was already well on his way. "Oh, Edgar, what now?"

"Rabbit will see something she was destined to see anyway."

"Oh, honestly!" she cried, as he grinned.

Rabbit walked in ten minutes later and looked blankly at Cornelia for a long moment.

"Why?" she sighed at last.

"I'm sorry, love. He seemed to think you'd want to see it..."

Rabbit looked gloomily around the lab, her eyes resting on the collection of tools and parts. "This is weird."

"You did say you wanted this... have you changed your mind?"

"No! I just... didn't think it would happen so quickly." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "He keeps talking about mating, mother..."

"Oh, Luke!" she sighed. "Well, I suppose he is eager to... I mean, he loves you, he wants to... um... show you that. That he loves you! Yes. He just wants to... Edgar, help me."

"Luke loves you, Rabbit," Edgar said soothingly. Cornelia sighed with relief as he continued, "He is not a brutish male, as you know. But he still feels the desire to share with you the intimacy of mating. I'm sorry he upset you, but this is about love, my dear. You need not fear Luke, surely!"

"I don't," Rabbit mumbled. Cornelia noticed that she was trembling, however.

"If you want to think about it, Rabbit, that's quite alright," she murmured.

"No... I have thought about it and... you're right. It's because we love each other. I'm just really nervous!"

Cornelia nuzzled her child and said, "Then power down, sweetheart. When you wake, you'll be complete."

Rabbit sighed softly and powered down, still nestled against her mother.

"Oh, Edgar... they're so young..."

"They're grown, my dear. There has to be a point when childhood gives way, surely."

"I know. And part of me looks forward to seeing my dear children as beautiful adult dragons. I saw their fathers at much the same stage of life..."

She trailed off. She had come very close to helping at least one of them cross the border into manhood and it felt awkward mentioning it to Edgar.

"But you will miss your children, hm?" he prompted tactfully.

"Yes," she sighed. "Well... let's finish the work. Hers is rather more complicated so we'd better begin."

It had been troubling enough making changes to her original designs with the males. Bringing Rabbit into line with her chosen gender meant cutting into her chassis and this bothered Cornelia more for the damage done to the smooth metal structure than anything else. But the design was well wrought and before too long Rabbit stood, female from head to tail, powering back on.

"Mama," Rabbit breathed at last. "Did it go alright?"

"Just fine sweetheart. I know you can't tell really..."

"I can... I feel different. I'd... rather not talk about it, though."

Luke hurried into the lab. "I heard her signal... Rabbit! Is it done, then?"

Rabbit backed away as Luke hurried to look. "Stop it!" she cried.

"Oh... sorry. I guess... that was weird. Wasn't it?"

"Yeah!" Rabbit cried.

Luke gently touched his snout to hers. Cornelia half expected Rabbit to shy away but instead she rested her head against his.

"I just really want this to work. I'm sorry I'm being creepy," he said quietly.

"It's okay..." Rabbit began. She froze, her head tipped to one side, staring at him.

"Rabbit?" Luke prompted.

"Um..."

"What?" Luke asked.

Rabbit nuzzled him and breathed, "I just... want to..."

He turned his head, resting it against hers, and closed his eyes. "Hm?"

She gasped and jerked away from him so suddenly that he staggered. "Oh!" she cried, looking around frantically.

"What's wrong?" he gasped as she let out a squeak and bolted from the cave. "Rabbit!" 

"Oh, dear," sighed Cornelia. "I was afraid of that."

"Of what?" cried Luke. "Why did she run away from me?"

Edgar turned and began to tidy the laboratory. Cornelia frowned and turned back to Luke.

"Luke, dear... I think Rabbit is not as calm about what lies ahead as you are. I think she is suffering from what the humans call pre-wedding jitters."

"Jitters? What a strange word..." Luke stood very still. "Wedding..."

"Well, yes, Luke," Edgar said over his shoulder. "You are what you wanted, now. You are able to become mates. You have been imprinted all your lives. You may mate when you are ready."

"But... she's scared!"

"There is a school of thought among dragons that suggests that the female will adjust once mating begins," Edgar observed thoughtfully.

Cornelia looked at him sharply. What was he playing at? He had said he hated that kind of behavior! Indeed, it was nothing short of rape, as well she knew!

"You mean that the male is to catch the female and mate with her despite her struggles," Luke said slowly. "Then they are considered joined."

"That is a common approach," Edgar acknowledged.

Cornelia opened her mouth, but Luke spoke first.

"No!" he roared, eyes wide. "I could never do that to her!"

Edgar smiled and turned around once more. "Of course not."

"The idea! You would never... You didn't..."

"No, Luke. I have been married four times, and all four gave themselves willingly. I would never take a female by force, no matter what tradition states."

Luke began to calm down. "Then why mention..."

"I'm sorry. I suppose as alpha I simply wanted to ensure that you mean to treat our Rabbit properly."

"Edgar..." Luke muttered, sounding hurt. "How could you ever doubt it?"

"Truthfully... I didn't. But that brutal practice aside, your mother and I think that following the joining traditions might make it more meaningful. Possibly Rabbit will be able to find her courage if we do this properly, with all the ceremony we can muster."

"Joining traditions. That sounds alright... at least... if she wants to after all. She ran from me! She's never done that, ever... at least, not when we weren't playing a game. She may have changed her mind," Luke sighed.

"Or she might just want to wait a little," Cornelia suggested. Luke looked crestfallen. She added quickly, "I doubt Rabbit will have changed her mind about you. But don't worry, love. I'll speak with her. That's a mother's duty."

 

Rabbit was once again at her favorite pool, staring into the water.

"Rabbit?"

"Mama!" she gasped. "I felt so strange! I had to get away from him before... oh, I don't know what to do!"

"Is something wrong?" Cornelia asked, frowning.

"I'm so afraid!"

"Afraid? Of what?"

"Something's happening to me! One minute we were talking and then all of a sudden I just felt so... so... Did you make any other changes?"

"Edgar designed something he put into your brain, you know that. Something to enable you to... um... use the new parts."

"Oh..."

"He... he reasoned that you might not fully understand what to do when... when Luke..."

"Don't say it! Oh, please don't even mention it!"

Steam rose from her cheeks and she put her head into the pool and gulped water hastily.

"Rabbit, dear! What is it you're feeling that frightens you?"

"I was scared about mating, Mama! But... Now I really, really want to..."

"Well, it's natural. You've wanted this but now that it's here you're nervous, but I suppose not all that nervous... That seems the wrong way around, somehow... I'm sorry, did you say you were scared but now you aren't?" Cornelia asked, confused.

"No... I am scared! I'm terrified! And at the same time... I want him so much that I can hardly stand it! I wasn't like that before..."

"You mean you feel the need to... Rabbit dear, do you feel a strong need to be near Luke?"

"Yes!" Rabbit cried raggedly. "Very near!" She gulped more water and sobbed.

"Try to think of other things," Cornelia said weakly.

"I can't!" she wailed. "Something's malfunctioning, I know it!"

It wasn't, though. Cornelia saw it as plainly as she could see Rabbit plunging her whole head into the pool once more, and she was furious.

"Edgar..." she sighed. "Really!"

 

She left Rabbit wallowing in the pool, hoping it helped, and found Edgar playing a game with Aurora while Goldie watched.

"Aurora, sweetheart, go play with Goldie. Mama needs to talk to Papa."

Goldie looked at her in surprise and nodded. "Sure, little Rory, come with sister and we'll go find Talon!"

"Ta'on!" crowed the baby, waddling out with Goldie perched on her back.

"Why?" she cried, when they had gone. "What were you thinking?"

"About what?" he asked innocently, clearing up the parts of their game.

"About... about programming Rabbit to want Luke!"

"She already wanted Luke."

He was being far too calm. He wouldn't meet her eyes. He had anticipated every objection. There was no question about it. He had been expecting this!

"She wanted him, but not like this!" she roared. "What have you done? She's tormented, Edgar!"

"Oh... it kicked in quickly. She was supposed to go into season eventually but I never thought..."

"Season! You programmed her to go into season?"

"Well, yes! A modest four days every three months, nothing inhumane."

"What ever for?"

"I saw no harm considering she already has a mate."

"But why make her endure it at all?"

"She's female! She wants to feel female!"

"You couldn't ask me how it should feel, then?"

"Are you telling me it wasn't this intolerable for you?" he said, cocking his head.

She opened her mouth to roar and sighed instead. "You know it was, you damned idiot," she said kindly. "But why wish it on my child?"

"You already have a child who will feel it whether you wish it or not. That's how life works, and how it continues. And Rabbit... With the parts we installed, she would be able to go through the motions and be near her mate, but feel none of the sensations of mating, if I didn't add that programming to the adjustments. Luke would be the same."

"But Luke would... oh, you didn't! Edgar, tell me you didn't!"

"What, program him with the instincts, drives and sensations befitting a male dragon? To be sure, I did. And Talon as well. They are complete. They wanted that."

"But... why? What exactly did you do?"

"I programmed Luke to respond to to Rabbit. When she goes into season, he will be drawn to service her."

That explained the moment before Rabbit had fled. She had begun to send out signals only Luke would receive, and he had begun to respond. She was suddenly very glad Rabbit had fled!

"You couldn't have told me that?" she cried.

"It's not as if they'll just have at it and mate wherever they are! They'll seek privacy first... And lest we forget, you were extremely reluctant to discuss it," he murmured. "Remember?"

She sighed deeply. "I know. Fine, then. But... what about Talon?"

"Oh, Talon. His programming allows him to detect organic dragon females in season."

"What?" she cried. "But... Edgar, really! Actual females?"

"Don't worry. He's in control of it, purely voluntary, and it's further set to dismiss his mother's scent. So even if he is around an attractive and willing female in season, he will be able to walk way if he sees fit. Good enough?"

"Alright..." she sighed. "I scarcely have a say in it, it seems!"

"Now Stelle..."

"No... don't placate me. I only mean that he wished to be a functioning male, and now he is. And if he should some day find a female who is interested in becoming his mate, well... As unlikely as it is, I can only hope he lives a full life. I never saw any of this ahead when I resolved to begin construction!" she moaned.

"A true scientist! The goal was to achieve, to the point that you never saw the long term consequences. But to my mind, they are far more glorious than imagination could have conceived."

He kissed her gently and smiled. She nodded weakly.

"They certainly are more than expected. So Luke and Talon are truly male now. But that still leaves poor Rabbit suffering! We must adjust the levels..."

"Or present them to each other tonight."

"So soon?"

"A hasty marriage, in a manner of speaking, and yet one long anticipated."

"I suppose..." she said uneasily.

"Well, suppose then that we ask them? Keeping them separate for the duration. That's traditional anyway."

"Well... alright. I hate to say this... it's all happening so fast, far too fast. But... let's do so quickly."

He chuckled and nuzzled her. "I know the toll upon you is great, my dear one. If it weren't for nature itself your scientific mind never would have seen the point in the tedious drives of the flesh..."

"Oh, I don't know..." she murmured. She couldn't imagine these various loves of hers as having all been driven by lust, and she had never thought it was such a terrible way to begin a marriage.

"Well, in any case, you are troubled."

"I had rather supposed that having robotic children meant that I would never face the issues of mating rituals and bridal nights. Yet here we are."

"If it is any comfort, the haste will not mar the occasion. I suspect these two will be more than ready to join together. They were very eager to gain the parts. Everything will be alright, my dear."

She nodded and left to speak to Rabbit, still seething inwardly. This man! He seemed so quiet but was clearly some sort of sex maniac.

 

Rabbit, to her surprise, laughed when told what was happening. "I'm in season?" she asked wonderingly.

"I was afraid you'd be angry."

"But, Mama... Now I know nothing is wrong! Papa Edgar has done something wonderful instead! I'm a real girl now..."

"Oh! Well, yes, of course, but so you always were, darling!"

"I know, but, Mama... I'm a true female. I feel what other females do!"

Cornelia sighed and rested her head on the edge of the pool where Rabbit wallowed. Imagine rejoicing in the painful frustration of going into heat! "Yes, little one. I suppose Edgar realized that you would wish it. But to be able to endure it you must either stay away from Luke and in your pool until it passes, or..."

"Or mate with him," Rabbit whispered.

"Just so."

"Oh, then... Oh, Mama... I want to but I'm so nervous!"

"Ah, yes. You mentioned that... Well, it's your choice."

"What does Luke want?"

"I suspect, knowing Luke, that he will be asking the same of you. In which case the choice becomes yours. He is not like other dragon males. He will not come here and demand you. You must go willingly and choose to be his mate."

And Cornelia felt deep pride at this. She had once told the tale of a very opposite dragon male to Hatchworth, and he been shocked and disgusted. It was only natural for his son to choose a finer path. How proud he would be... If he had been repaired, she realized sadly.

"Oh," Rabbit murmured.

Edgar joined them. Cornelia looked around and saw Luke peering out of the cave opening in the distance.

"Luke wishes for me to inquire after Rabbit and ask what she wishes to do about her condition. Rabbit, my dear, I could adjust the levels if they are too uncomfortable, but the choice is yours."

"Oh, but Mama said..."

"I didn't mention that option. It seems that Rabbit is delighted with what you have given her."

"Is she?" he chuckled. "You're very welcome, my dear. Well, then, child... Shall we hold the nuptial ceremony tonight?"

Rabbit looked, wide eyed, at the cave opening where Luke watched her. She turned her head away suddenly and Cornelia realized they'd been sending messages she and Edgar couldn't hear.

"Yes," Rabbit whispered shyly. "Tonight."

 

A Snornian marriage ceremony wasn't as elaborate as the ones on Earth. Luke would be offered by his father, Rabbit by her mother, in front of family and witnesses... or in this case, family as witnesses. They made simple promises, were declared joined by the patriarch of the family, and after a brief nuzzle, the couple was to go away together to mate and seal the union.

Rabbit was still nervous, but very restless. Luke was eager in his placid way. He and Rabbit had found a suitable hoard long since, he'd explained, in their explorations deep within the caverns. The cave held a strange variety of copper wiring that Cornelia suspected the Old Dragon had kept handy for various experiments. There was much of it and it was very soft to a dragon, especially a robotic one.

"Alright, dear Rabbit," Cornelia said as they approached the main cavern. "If you're ready."

Rabbit, wearing a simple garland of desert blooms, looked as scared as the animal whose name she shared. She stopped just outside of the entrance. "Mama... Would papa be proud of me?"

"Why, he is, dear..."

"No, I mean... Pappy. My father. Rabbit."

"Oh!" She had come to think of Edgar as their father and recalled almost guiltily that the copper dragon came of Rabbit's Blue Matter. "Oh, yes, darling! I think he would look at you and act as though he had made you entirely by himself! And he would do so because he was so proud of his beautiful daughter."

"Oh!" gasped Rabbit. She turned toward the cavern, shook herself, and said briskly, "Al-al-alright. Then let's get on with this thing!"

Cornelia chuckled softly. Sometimes she was very much like her pappy, and it was a relief to see it now. Rabbit had been so demure lately that she had begun to wonder whether she was really being true to her nature.

But her nature was not that of her father's. They shared a core personality, but had taken different paths. Would Rabbit have been this way, had he never gone to war? She had felt from him and unmistakeable masculinity, but was it born of need? Or had it been an illusion crafted by her own longing?

These thoughts were soon chased from her mind as she and Rabbit hurried into the cavern.

"Ah, Rabbit! Beautiful child. The garland of flowers is most becoming," said Edgar.

He stood by Luke. Cornelia hastily joined Rabbit.

"Thank you, papa."

"I made it for her!" Goldie crowed from her perch. 

Talon was at the side with Aurora curled beside him, fast asleep. He looked at his mother contentedly and gave a short nod.

She returned it as Edgar cleared his throat and said, "Well, no sense wasting time. I've been through this twice so I think I remember it well enough. As alpha of this household, I call for the approach of the two who would seek to become joined."

Luke and Rabbit padded closer. Each looked at the other and as one they began to giggle softly.

"Now, then, let's observe proper decorum," Edgar said, his tone more amused than stern. "I present my son, Luke of the lair of Edgar, as bridegroom."

"And I present my daughter, Rabbit of the lair of Cornelia, as bride."

It all felt so silly! She and Edgar had just made up their minds and gotten down to business, when they had decided to mate. But Luke looked at Rabbit now with a look of such warmth that she could not regret the choice to share this moment with the family.

He stepped forward. "I offer myself to this female, if she will have me," he said softly.

Talon looked at him in surprise. They both knew what the traditions were; a hasty priming had taken place with Luke and Rabbit, and Talon had studied dragon etiquette for decades. A dragon male at this point in the ceremony would have claimed the female, willy nilly. It was ceremonial as a rule; most females did agree to their own weddings. But according to historical procedure they really weren't offered any say in the matter.

And Rabbit, showing no surprise at all, looked back at Luke and murmured, "I accept this male, and offer myself in return."

Edgar looked at Cornelia as if to say, "Well, would you look at that?"

"I love you," Luke whispered.

Rabbit gave him her usual beautiful, wide-eyed stare, and replied, "I love you, too."

Luke nuzzled Rabbit gently, a kiss of sorts, and Goldie began to cry.

"Then by the laws of our people and my authority as alpha, I give my blessing to the union," said Edgar thickly.

"I second," Cornelia said awkwardly. Was he crying? The silly thing...

"Go now," Edgar said gently. "We'll see you in a few days."

Rabbit looked back at her mother. Cornelia stepped forward and nuzzled her. "Courage, little one."

"Yes, mama."

"And Luke... You too, darling. You truly have my blessing."

"Thank you, mother," he said solemnly.

She watched them walk out, her heart in her throat. The hoard was three hours' journey deep into the system of caves. Luke and Rabbit had often explored there and found many secret rooms and passages, so he had told her. So their trip was very much like a honeymoon.

"Alright, my dear?" Edgar murmured, standing beside her.

"I hope so, my love."

"I never tire of hearing you say those words, Stelle."

"Hm? Oh. Yes. Well, you are my love, you know."

"I do."

Goldie flew down to land on her mother's back. She rested her head against the copper scales and murmured, "They'll be alright, mama. They love each other and Luke is gentle and kind."

"I know, little one. But... We never asked whether you wished to be upgraded."

"To what?"

"Well, to have a female form."

"I have one. See?"

Goldie flew around to her face and hovered there.

"Silly one! Yes, you do. But I meant..."

"I know, Mama. I'm too little to mate with any of my kind, and even if I could, well, this is all I want. I'm not _that_ much like Papa, you know."

"I know you're not... wait, what do you mean, not that much like your papa?"

"Oh, just that I love everyone the same. I don't have anyone I love most of all."

"And he does?"

"Well, sure!" she said pleasantly. "He's in love with..."

Her eyes widened and she dropped to the floor with a crash.

"Goldie!"

"So-sorry! I wasn't supposed to say that!" she squawked, hastily taking flight and zipping from the room.

"Jon's in love?" Cornelia said faintly.

"Now, Goldie sometimes says peculiar things but I don't know that I put much stock in this mystic connection you all attribute to her," Edgar told her. "I'm sure this was another of her dreams."

"I suppose," she said. "Well... it doesn't matter, really, does it? I can only wish him happiness, as I'm here and he's there."

"Of course," Edgar murmured, watching her.

She felt very hollow. But of course she did. She missed Luke and Rabbit already.

"Talon, dear, how is the baby?" she said brightly, hurrying to them.

 

She spent a restless few days worrying about the children. When she wasn't worrying about them, she found to her considerable irritation that she was trying to picture the woman Jon loved. Although it did occur to her that he could be in love with almost anything. Rabbit had been very attached to the kitchen gadgets, she recalled.

And why, indeed, did it matter? Why would it even matter if The Spine fell in love with another? She had moved on, and she could not grudge them the same.

At least, she had moved on with life. It was plain to see that she had not left her feelings for them behind her. The curious thing was that the thought of Rabbit being in love with someone else had filled her with pity. The thought of The Spine being in love with someone else warmed her heart. But the thought of Jon being in love with someone else left her feeling empty. She could speculate as to the reasons. None of them pleased her.

Rabbit and Luke returned as planned four days after the ceremony. They were all smiles, or were inasmuch as a robotic dragon was capable of smiling.

"Mama!" Rabbit cried when she saw her. She trotted to her and nuzzled her cheek. "Mama... everything was just wonderful!"

"Oh!" cried Cornelia, hoping Rabbit didn't intend to go into detail. "So... um... Luke... no difficulties with the new machinery?" she asked uncomfortably.

"You know very well you don't want me to answer that, Mother," he said, amused. "All is well. We'll tell you if it's otherwise. And we spent time exploring as well. The spring we found is still flowing there and the caves are beautiful."

She sighed with deep relief. "Bless you both, darlings. I've prepared a suitable chamber for your use, far enough from the others but not as far as your bridal chamber. Alright?"

"Thank you," they both said.

But they were different. Exceeding, as Edgar had observed, even the grand expectations she had when she built them, far greater than the sum of their parts, the two had not turned out to be veritable clones of their fathers, any more than Talon and Goldie had.  She didn't quite understand it, but she cherished them as they were.

But as close as they had always been, now they had the air of a newlywed couple, with their own secrets, their own intimacy. It was beautiful and painful to see them so happy, and yet so far from her. Her babies were gone. Now, before her, stood dragons.

Even with that, however, they were still her children, and she had one baby remaining besides. They were still a family, Edgar visited more and more as Onyx, his younger brother, grew into his own and took charge of his inheritance. All was peaceful once more. Talon now played with Aurora because she was bigger. While Rabbit and Luke were more cozy in general, it wasn't such a drastic change for them. It seemed the natural progression of years of affection. And Goldie seemed to have forgotten her slip of the tongue about Jon, though Cornelia still brooded from time to time about it.

So things were, well and content, until the year, not far distant, that the humans called 1950.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on the canon timeline, that was a very significant year.


	29. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goldie's visions are real... And some of them are terrible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written such a little fan cocoon around myself that I am in fact writing an AU of my own AU. Referring to "Life with Marie" in this fic but with branching destinies later on. What happens at the end of that fic will not reflect what happens at the end of this one.

Edgar had indeed always been skeptical about Goldie's connection with Jon. He attributed Cornelia's belief in it to a desire for a link to her beloved robots. And he had hinted that Cornelia was especially interested in remaining connected to Jon. She did not dignify the suggestion with a response, largely because she still had her doubts.

Not about Goldie's connection with her father. About her own connection with him. Of the four, he still felt the most real, the most present. But The Spine... she had been so in love with him! Hadn't she? Still, it was only natural that she felt closer to the one who still had a link to her, through their child. And she could understand why Edgar was skeptical. He didn't know Jon like she did.

But even Edgar was shaken the night Goldie woke them, shrieking.

"Rabbit!" she screamed. "Rabbit? No... Rabbit! Oh, please... please, no..."

She seemed to be in a trance when they arrived. 

"Goldie? Goldie dear!" Cornelia cried.

Goldie seemed to looked straight through her. "It's gone! They stole it! Rabbit..."

"I'll fetch Rabbit," Edgar said. "Perhaps she can reassure her that it was only a dream."

Rabbit hurried in before he could, however, and trotted straight to Goldie. "I could hear her all the way in our room! Goldie! I'm here, honey!"

There was no reaction to this. "It's gone!" she wailed. "Rabbit!"

"I'm here!" Rabbit cried, anguished. "Mama, she can't hear me!"

"He's dead!" Goldie howled. "Spine! Spine!"

"What?" gasped Cornelia, suddenly feeling sick.

"Then she doesn't mean our Rabbit," Edgar observed, peering at the little dragon.

"Goldie!" Cornelia cried. "What's happened to Rabbit?"

Goldie at last seemed to respond. She looked at Cornelia with a glazed expression. "They found him... brought him home, but... his core... his core is gone... stolen... torn out... He's dead... He's dead!"

Cornelia felt faint. "No..."

"It's just a dream, Goldie," Edgar said soothingly.

"No!" cried Cornelia. "This was how we first learned about Hatchworth, Edgar! If Goldie thinks Rabbit is dead, it means that Jon thinks that he is! Which means... he's..."

She couldn't go on. She sank to the floor, keening. Dragons didn't cry, not like humans, but they had their own ways of grieving. She had been beaten as a child when she keened, but she feared nothing now, not with Rabbit dead. She loved them all, and she knew Rabbit would never have been a suitable mate. But oh, how happy she had been knowing he was alive somewhere! 

She felt Rabbit, her daughter, settle down beside her. She was crying; just crying. She rested her head against Cornelia. 

"Pappy..." she choked. "I never even got to meet him, Mama!"

And Luke curled around them both.

"Darlings," Cornelia sighed.

"Mother?"

It was Talon. Aurora stood beside him, blinking sleepily at them all.

"She came to my room. I think something woke her. What's going on?"

"Rabbit's dead!" Goldie sobbed.

"What?" Talon roared. The cave trembled and Aurora cried out and ran to her father, who curled around her comfortingly.

"No, no, not your sister, Talon! She's right here, see?" Edgar cried hastily as Rabbit put her head up above Luke so that Talon could see her. "Our Goldie has had one of her dreams, you see."

"Oh! Thank goodness!" Talon gasped. "But... oh, no... Then that means Rabbit, the other Rabbit... Are you sure, mother?"

"Well... We don't really know. Maybe he can be repaired! I... I have to go there! Edgar, we have to get the portal generator back in order!"

"Now, Stelle, my dear! Is that really necessary?"

They all stared at him.

"Ah. So it is," he said dryly.

 

It took a little trial and error to get herself small enough for her travel clothing. She had taken to wearing simple shifts when working in the lab, and had found a natural impulse to make herself a bit matronly. But with a little work, she once again was little Professor Spot.

The generator was the bigger problem. It had always been difficult to work, and required Blue Matter to function. She had found a source but retrieving it took still more time. Before they had it ready, Goldie cried out once more, this time in the daytime.

"Nightmares!" she cried. "Mama! The nightmares are real!"

It took some time to calm her. Cornelia didn't know what to think. Possibly Goldie was malfunctioning this time? How could nightmares be real?

A few days later, their work was interrupted as Goldie sobbed, "Two is dead, too! And Guy!"

She couldn't make any sense of that, either, until she remembered that the twins were usually referred to as Two and Three. But Guy? She knew it was sometimes used as a name on Earth, but who it was, she couldn't imagine.

The following day came two messages, one that made no sense any way she looked at it, and one that offered a tiny tendril of hope.

"He's a robot again. Poor Spine..." Goldie said early that morning.

But in the afternoon, she wailed, "Poor Rabbit! Oh! Don't cry! Don't cry, please!"

Cornelia had taken to tuning her out to keep the work going, but it was hard. While it sounded as though Jon was telling Rabbit not to cry, she knew it was possible he was telling someone else not to cry about Rabbit. Either way, she would soon find out.

They finished their work that evening.

"I'll reopen it in exactly one hour," Edgar said, standing human form at the controls. "Please, Stelle... Be there or I'll just have to keep opening it every hour on the hour until I run out of matter..."

"Edgar... I'm not going back to them, my love. I... just want to make sure everything is alright."

"Stelle," he sighed. "You see through me. I must seem a jealous old fool."

"No, darling. You're so very dear to me! I want you to understand that. Don't worry. I'll come back to you."

He nodded and wiped at his eyes with a sheepish laugh. She felt, to her surprise, an unmistakeable flutter. She stepped away from the portal and pulled him into her arms.

She kissed him warmly. "Thank you for doing this."

"Stelle..." he sighed. "You're very welcome, my dear."

She smiled and walked through the portal into the same lab she had left, years before.

The Spine was waiting for her.

They stood and stared at each other as the portal flashed shut. He looked older. It was astonishing but true. There was slight wear around the faceplates, which were not the same as the ones she remembered. He had looked human, but these plates were still more refined. The features, however, were the same. His clothing, too, looked different; changed with the times but also showing a more mature taste. He had been a boy, after a fashion, when she had gone. Now he was a man.

A man who still had traces of oil under his eyes.

Cornelia managed to speak first. "Spine! It's so good to see you..."

She trailed off. She had pictured this moment so many different ways, years ago. But now, she was married to someone else, and had a child with him. Of course, in a way she also had a child with The Spine... and each of his brothers. It was a little unsavory when put that way, however...

"Cornelia!" he croaked at last.

She frowned. He still stood, a look of shock frozen on his face. She had rather hoped for something more welcoming... but then, considering why she had come, perhaps he wasn't at his best.

"Oh!" she cried. "Of course! Is everything alright?"

"N-no..." he faltered. "It's not... I mean, there are good things and bad things but the bad things are especially... I'm babbling."

The silence resumed. "Spine," she murmured. "I'm so sorry..."

He grimaced and she hurried to him. They embraced at last but he made no move to kiss her. He just stood and held her.

"So much has happened!" he moaned. "I know, you know that, you've been gone so long, but in just the last week so much has happened, Cornelia! Rabbit ran off to find... well, someone he loves."

"The honeybee?" she asked, surprised. She'd never quite made sense of that.

"How did you know?"

"It's true?" she gasped.

"Well, yes..." he said, looking puzzled. "She was broken years ago and sold to a carnival. He found her, she's alright, but it was a trap. These men stole his core and when we found him..." His voice broke.

"He was dead," she whispered numbly. _Rabbit's dead..._ Jon had said it, but how could it be?

"It was horrible! And then..." He pinched his lips together for a moment, "well, what with one thing and another we got the core back and repaired him..."

"You did?" she cried joyously. She saw the pained look on his face and said, "But... someone died to get it back..."

"Two... and his son-in-law... Three is hurt, but he's still alive. And Rabbit... when we told him... He won't do anything, just sits in the library with Honeybee, completely shut down."

"Now when you say Honeybee... look, what is Honeybee, exactly?"

"Oh! She's a robot. A woman... a female... well, a robot who looks like a woman."

Cornelia let out a large sigh of relief. That was different. "Alright. Go on."

"Well, that's all, except..." He closed his eyes. "Cornelia... I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I... I'm engaged. To be married. I met her on the way to find Rabbit and fell in love... I thought I never would after you left but... if you'd come back sooner..."

"Oh, Spine, sweet... Don't be sorry! Don't! I want you to be happy! If you've found someone you love and who loves you enough to marry you... oh, dear. Is that legal? You being an automaton..."

"We'll find a way," he said with a sheepish smile. "She loves me even knowing what I really am."

"Well, naturally..." she said, puzzled. "Isn't that how she fell in love with you in the first place?"

"Well... we all have these false faces we wear and I... Never mind. But... I feel terrible. I said I'd come to you, and Pappy tried to find the way..."

"It's alright, really! I... well... I'm married. I took a mate."

Despite his own confession, he looked momentarily thunderstruck. He shook his head and smiled. "Who is he?"

"A dragon... his name is Edgar. He spent time on Earth, too, and he's a scientist as well and, oh, he's wonderful, darling. I couldn't be happier, really."

 _As far as I know. As far as I know, I could have been,_ she thought with a pang. But it didn't matter now.

"I'm so glad," he said quietly.

She suspected he felt what she did... that they had moved on, that each was happy, but that there would always be that empty place where what might have be would never be.

The door opened. Jon was peering in at them.

"Did you tell her?" he said quietly.

"You were right, Jon! She's here!"

Jon hurried in and without hesitation swept her up in his arms. But just as quickly, he released her.

"Oh!" he gasped.

"What? What is it?"

"I... didn't know... Stella..." Jon whispered brokenly.

He was beside himself! She looked at The Spine, who said, "Jon? What is it, buddy?"

 _He speaks to him as though he's a child,_ she thought.

"She's married..." Jon whispered.

"Well, yes! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Of... of course..."

"Jon?" she said worriedly.

He looked up smiling and wiped his eyes hastily. "Congratulations! Did you... did you make them?"

She looked at him miserably. The poor thing was always so tender-hearted... The circumstances must have been paining him deeply. But why had he shied away? It had been so lovely...

"I did, sweetheart," she murmured, and he looked down at his hands. "I made them."

"What?" asked The Spine. "Made what?"

 "The children!" Jon said quickly. "Spine, the samples we sent, remember? She used them to make children! I knew she would!"

"Children?" The Spine cried, stunned.

"Automatons, dear. The Blue Matter contained traces of your sentience. Combined with fresh Matter, they formed new intelligence, beings like you and yet unique. They're so much more than even I anticipated. Our children... dragons, of course, since they live there..."

"I have a child..." The Spine said blankly. "And it's a dragon..."

"A son. Talon. You'd be so proud of him!"

"I hope someday to meet him. I wish I could now, but... I just can't."

"I can't either," Jon sighed, looking at her sadly. "They need us here."

"Of course they do!" she cried. "Oh, darlings, I was so worried! Goldie... that's Jon's daughter..."

Jon giggled at this and wiped his eyes again. She wondered if he would accept a hug now, after releasing her so quickly. He probably thought it inappropriate, knowing about Edgar.

"Sometimes she gets little premonitions," she continued, "and she told me Rabbit was dead."

Jon gasped. "I thought that when they brought him home!" he cried. "I was sure he was dead!"

"Well, so did she," she said, not eager to let Jon know that she was sometimes privy to his thoughts. "So I came as quickly as possible."

"And now you have to go..." Jon whispered.

"What? Right now?" The Spine cried.

"Yes..." she sighed.

"You promised," said Jon.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, without quite knowing why. She had promised such a lot of things...

"No, I mean you promised him. Your husband. He wants you to come home within the hour."

"Yes. He loves me. I can't let him down..."

"Do you love him?" Jon asked, looking her in the eye.

"Jon!" snapped The Spine.

She looked back, shocked. Of course she did!

"It's alright," Jon said gently. "I'm sorry, Stella. You don't have to answer."

"No, it's alright. I do love him," she whispered.

The Spine smiled. Jon, however... the barest flicker of pain crossed his face. "I... I'm glad," he said quietly.

She fought tears. Goldie had said Jon was in love. What if, unlike his brothers, he loved someone who didn't return his affections? No wonder he was upset! But she couldn't ask... and as no one mentioned it, well...

"Oh! How is Hatchworth?" she said quickly.

They looked at each other and she remembered that they didn't know that she knew what had happened.

"Cornelia," The Spine said gently. "He..."

"I know, he's in the vault. You haven't figured out how to repair him, then."

"How did you... oh. Goldie. Right. That's really remarkable..."

"More than that," she said. "Darlings, I've seen him! Once I found out, I was able to briefly open a portal into the vault..."

"Cornelia! That was terribly dangerous!" The Spine gasped.

"I had to! I hoped to bring him home with me and repair him! But he refused. He said he's not afraid, Spine! And he..."

Jon looked at her now with a little smile. He knew about the kiss, of course. It had been an awfully nice kiss. Edgar had whiskers in his human form, too. They tickled... Even as the thought crossed her mind, Jon's smile faded.

"Was he alright, Cornelia? You say he wasn't afraid..."

"Hm? Yes, he told me that. He said he wanted to be there when you found the answer and came to repair him." She looked at his face and felt a sinking feeling. "But you're no closer to it, are you?"

"Two was studying the problem, but... he's gone..."

The Spine broke down. She and Jon rushed to him at the same time and she soon found herself holding them both; awkwardly, yes. But she had no intention of letting either of them go until the portal opened.

Jon, however, had other ideas. After what felt like hours standing with one arm around her, he cried, "Spine! Can't we send the data with Stella? She's a scientist! Maybe she can figure out how to repair him!"

The Spine gasped. "He left it in a box in lab two!" he told Jon, who bolted from the room.

"He has to hurry..." she said. "Edgar will be opening the portal any minute!"

"Edgar..." The Spine murmured. "Look, Cornelia, since Jon is out of the room... if someday you ever find yourself single again... Well, I think you'll find someone waiting here who wants to be near you more than anything in the world."

"Spine!" she gasped. "But... your fiancee..."

"What? Oh, no, I didn't mean..."

Jon pelted back in, carrying a cardboard box. "Got it! Oh, Stella, I just know you'll find the answer!"

She carefully took the box just as the portal opened. She looked back to see Edgar looking through at her. He waved. The Spine and The Jon waved back weakly.

"I have to go..." she said, her voice breaking.

"We know, Cornelia. And someday you must return to tell us about our children. Someday soon, hm?"

"I don't know... it's so hard to open a portal... I was so worried but... I really don't know when I'll be able to return!"

They each hugged her carefully around the box. Jon placed another lingering kiss on her cheek and she felt her hair stand on end.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too, darlings! I'll miss you so much!" she cried.

She couldn't bear it, and the portal was waiting. She cried a hasty farewell and turned from the sight of their pained faces, leaving them when she wanted to remain to comfort and help them. She had made a promise, and things were not what they were when she left. There was no place for her here now. They each loved someone at least as much as they loved her. And though she was not jealous, it was time to go back to where she was loved best.

She cradled the box as she passed through, holding it as though it contained an infant. Because in it was the promise of helping Hatchworth, and if she could do that, she'd have another excuse to see them all again.

Edgar closed the portal and looked at her as though unsure what to do. She put down the box and almost flew into his arms.

"Well?" he asked gently.

"Rabbit will be alright in time," she said, trying to sound calm and content. But it was too much! She sobbed, "I had no idea how hard it would be... both to go back, and to leave."

"I'm sorry I opened the portal so soon. There's a sandstorm approaching. I can't honestly say whether it will affect the connection."

"You were right on time. Edgar... I love you, don't think I don't!"

"I... I didn't..." he stammered. "Oh, Stelle! I feared you would never return!"

He kissed her and she felt in his embrace just how powerful his fear had been.

"Edgar... Could you just hold me, darling? Just hold me for a while, like this."

"I would be happy if I could hold you forever like this," he replied, head resting against hers.

She closed her eyes. It felt safe there... as lovely as it had been with the others. But her safety as always was laced with a burden. She did love Edgar, but all was not peaceful inside her heart.

She didn't regret marrying Edgar, or having his child. But it had sealed her destiny. Things had been lost, and she had no idea if they would ever be found.


	30. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora is growing up, too...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter to let you know it's not forgotten. I mean to see this one through.

"None of this makes any sense," Cornelia grumbled after skimming yet another page of scrawled notes.

The Colonel had been a genius. The trouble with geniuses, however, was that there was always a counterbalance. His science was strong. His penmanship was hopeless!

"Not only is half of it unreadable, but even when the words are clear, his concepts sound like the ramblings of a madman! He was eccentric, but not mad."

"Some consider those the same," Edgar mused quietly.

Aurora was asleep on his lap. Considering the fact that she was dragonform and he was humanform, this was a bit of a strain. But he patted her fondly and made no complaint about the weight. Even as humans, dragons were very strong.

"Look at her," Cornelia sighed. "The little darling. She knows your scent, love, or she would be frightened by your shape."

"Am I so terrifying?" he chuckled.

"Oh, very. Absolutely fearsome."

"Hm." He shifted and Aurora growled and resettled. "My dear, in all the chaos last month, I didn't get the chance to discuss something with you. I've waited as long as I can but it very much needs your attention."

"Oh?" she said absently. This page was more clear, and told of a doomed party at the manor... apparently Hatchworth had filled it with badger kittens?

"Yes. Onyx is at last old enough to take ownership of the lair, and has done so. That's why I am here more frequently..."

"I know."

"But... well, my love, he seems to be making a hash of it. His sisters wish to be given as mates and Onyx has neglected to make the arrangements. The last time I was there, I got the impression that they were rather hoping I'd kill him and take over."

This got her attention. "That's horrible! I know we come of a barbaric people but that's too much!"

"Agreed," he said, but she could see him smirking. Clearly he found it funnier than she did. "But it seems my influence on him has gone beyond that of an elder dragon brother. He has taken up science, of a sort, and spends all his time flying through canyons and mountainous areas, testing the effects of sound on the obstacles. I would approve of experiments in sound but the trouble is that he often takes risks there and gets hurt. And I suspect, again, that his sisters would let nature take its course rather than aiding him. His mother has found a mate herself, and means to go and live with him once the union is solemnized. So that leaves the children. I think I should go back to visiting there for longer, at least for a time, both to help with household needs and to knock some sense into my younger brother before he returns to find his lair stolen by a more traditional dragon."

"I had thought Onyx was rather old-fashioned. So you said."

"Taking after my father. He is still a very proud young beast but he doesn't feel the burden of maintaining the traditions now that he had seen other options. I suppose that means I have set a bad example."

"If it weren't for the complications of his behavior among his fellow dragons, I would argue that you were a very good example. Well... alright," she sighed. "I had grown accustomed to having you here. I'll miss that."

"Well, that's only part of what I wanted to discuss."

"Go on."

"I would like to bring Aurora with me, when she's a bit older and more settled. She can ride on my back, until she learns to fly. I think she should get to know her family."

"Do you think you'll need to be there as much by then? Surely she won't be ready for such a journey for several years!"

"I make in five to ten years, depending upon her personality. But even if he comes around by then, I still think she should get to know them."

"Oh! Well... I suppose she should spend some time in a place with more dragons. Maybe she'll meet other children and learn how to interact. Much as I love our children, theirs is a different dynamic, and a considerable age gap."

"Thank you, my dear. I'll go back in the morning to see how things are there."

 

Edgar began once again to divide his time evenly between households, in weekly intervals. Cornelia's concerns about his age seemed unfounded now; he seemed perfectly fit as he flew on the weekly trips.

Years passed in contentment. Cornelia continued her research, experimenting with Blue Matter containment units that would potentially serve as adequate replacement's for Hatchworth's damaged one. With the assistance of her older children, she was able to do so while raising Aurora, who was growing vigorous and strong. Sometimes she would watch her mother working, and eventually expressed an interest in learning to take humanform. She and Edgar took turns teaching her. By the time she was fifteen years old (close to a human's age eight, developmentally) she could change at will. Lessons throughout those years also included flying, reading and writing both English and German, science, Snornian history (what there was of it) and mathematics. The automatons assisted a great deal in the various subjects... transformation excluded. Goldie assisted with flying, but never without Cornelia or Edgar.

Rabbit and Luke remained content, and took to making carvings on the walls of the caverns throughout the lair. Cornelia had worried that they might begin to feel the lack of offspring, if they were so determined to live fully, but it seemed that they held no such ambition. Talon, too, seemed satisfied with his lot, but Cornelia worried about him. It had seemed such a wonderful thing to create them, and she had been so desperate for what little she could retain of her beloved robots. But had she condemned him to live well nigh forever, alone but for his fellow robots?

But there was no solution, nothing for it. If he was happy, so would she be.

 

It was the year that Earth called 1961 that Edgar once more raised the subject of taking Aurora with him to visit his family.

"If she would like to go," Cornelia responded when asked. "I've already agreed to it."

But she was uneasy. Aurora was a child unplanned and unexpected, but how dear she was! She was very fond of all of the automatons, and was bright, sweet, and lively. She sometimes called Rabbit her mama, but she called Luke her brother. And when she was very small, she called Talon her boyfriend. He humored her and nuzzled her little nose so that she would shyly tuck her head under her wing. He always laughed, kindly, of course. He loved her as they all did.

And the lair would feel empty without the sound of her piping voice.

But Aurora wanted very much to visit the township and meet her family. Edgar made preparations and Cornelia did her best to ground her daughter in proper decorum, despite her years of learning etiquette. But as the date of their trip approached, Edgar came to her one afternoon while she was poring over her notes.

"Stelle, my love... I wonder whether I might ask a great favor of you."

She was surprised. With all they had shared, working, mating, having a child, that he should feel he had to ask for a favor! 

"Why, certainly, Edgar dear..."

"Now, don't commit yourself in haste, not until you hear it. It seems that Aurora is having doubts about making the journey."

"Oh, poor darling! I suppose she must be feeling shy about meeting new dragons."

"To be sure. As such, I think it would set her at ease if... if she were able to travel in the company of her mother."

Cornelia froze.

"Ah, there. Now you see my problem. What's more, the children there as well as my step-mother have suggested in the past that you might come to meet them. I assured them that Aurora's wings were not yet mature enough to make the journey, knowing how much you cherish your peaceful life here. I never presumed to make familial demands upon you, considering the nature of our union. But... I would like very much for them to meet my dear wife."

"I... I don't know..." she mumbled.

She had thought he was free to ask whatever he wanted, but she hadn't expected this. She had never even considered visiting the dragon colony where his family lived. It had simply never occurred to her to go with him. In fact, she hadn't even thought of them as her family, only as his.

"Could you give it some thought? It would be a great help and I wouldn't ask you to go after this if you didn't wish to do so."

"I have such a lot to do..."

"Things that can wait a few days, surely..."

"And the other children..."

"Are fully mature! They can refuel and maintenance each other with ease! They can spare you for a little while so that you can come and meet my family!"

"Why should they want to meet me, anyway?" she asked uneasily.

"You're my wife! Effectively their sister!"

This did not fill her with warmth. "They never met your other wives, either!" she growled.

"They hardly had the opportunity, did they? And I believe they feel a great bond with you since you enabled me to produce offspring..."

"How touching!" she cried sarcastically. "While that is quite a feather in my cap, I can hardly claim credit for awakening your seed!"

"Now, Stelle..." he said soothingly, "I only mean that they feel a strong connection because of her, and because of the things I have told them about you."

She turned away as he attempted to put his arms around her. She felt his hands slip away from her.

"For Aurora, then," he said softly. "For our daughter. So that she may meet them with the security of her mother."

Despite his tone, she could tell he was frustrated, even angry. It alarmed her a little; Edgar had never shown anger with her. At the same time, she felt trapped, cornered. She was angry, too, and exulted in having taken him down with her, at having managed for once to upset him in turn. How dare he use Aurora to try to make her feel guilty!

She didn't trust herself to speak. She remained turned away until his quiet steps left the lab. 

Cornelia picked up her notes shakily, trying to resume reading. She couldn't. The same words passed before her eyes again and again without meaning. Why did he have to ask this? She was so content here with her children! It was enough of a wrench allowing Aurora to go with him!

Evening fell as she brooded. The lab grew colder. She stared at her discarded notes in the fading light.

Edgar was angry with her. Her own panic-stricken rage had cooled enough for her to appreciate how deeply she felt that. She sank forward, lay her head on her arms, and started to cry. 

She wanted to please him, truly she did! but she had been isolated for so long... it was so peaceful! Just her, the children, and Edgar. No one judging her unfit, no one with unfair expectations, no one attempting to kill her for falling short! Just those who loved her. It was heavenly.

But surely, a voice seemed to say... surely she could bear it for one week, to please him and to comfort Aurora! Once the whelp had visited, returning would become easier and she wouldn't need Cornelia along.

She hated the fact that she could talk herself into it. But so she had.

She felt a firm but gentle hand rub her back. She hadn't even heard him enter. For a long while they stayed that way, saying nothing. She sat back at last and looked up at him, heaving a shaky sigh. His expression was anything but angry. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly and she felt the tears begin again.

"I'm sorry, my love," he whispered. "I was wrong to try and push you to come.."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" she cried. "You're right, Edgar! She needs her mother. And you should never have needed to push. I love you! You have every right to ask things of me, after all you have done for this family."

"Done? I have done so very little..."

"Not at all," she breathed, looking up at him. "You've been everything."

They kissed, and Cornelia knew at least how they would be spending this evening. She had heard about married couples reconciling in bed (or in private chambers) after quarreling, but since she and Edgar had never quarreled, she had yet to experience the things they mentioned. She had mostly wondered how anyone could make love after a fight. But in this moment, she understood.

Edgar lifted her in his arms, walking toward his human chambers, as usual sensing her impulses. She felt a deep longing to be near him, to hold him and love him and make up for her coldness with the greatest warmth her humanform body could endure.

Tomorrow she would prepare for the journey.

 

 


End file.
